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Carlyle Targets $2 Billion for Americas Growth Equity Fund

Carlyle Targets $2 Billion for Americas Growth Equity Fund

Carlyle Group Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $2 billion for a fund dedicated to mid-size private equity deals in North America, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Carlyle Growth Equity Fund will focus on opportunities in the U.S. and Canada, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. The alternative asset manager hasn’t formally launched fundraising efforts for the vehicle, one of the people said.

Carlyle is planning the fund, led by Adam Palmer, as the firm tweaks its strategy for investing in smaller, fast-growing companies following the departure of Rodney S. Cohen, who was co-head of Carlyle U.S. Equity Opportunity Fund I and II, which raised $1.1 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively. Cohen was named head of private equity at Black Diamond Capital Management in March.

Washington-based Carlyle is moving to more closely align its growth equity and larger buyout teams around sector expertise, and individual sector heads will approve the pursuit of transactions in its various funds, the people said. Both teams report to Carlyle’s chief investment officer of corporate private equity, Pete Clare.

Leigh Farris, a spokeswoman for Carlyle, declined to comment.

Carlyle’s prior mid-market fund typically featured deals in which it put in equity of $25 million to $200 million. Parameters for the new fund have yet to be finalized, one of the people said.

Previous investors in the firm’s mid-market strategy include the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Bloomberg data show.

Carlyle, which had $217 billion in assets under management as of March 31, has made other changes under co-Chief Executive Officers Kewsong Lee and Glenn Youngkin. The firm combined its global infrastructure, power and renewable energy investment teams to mirror a model employed by many of the firm’s peers, Bloomberg reported in January.

Carlyle’s shares have fallen 11% this year through July 14, trailing peers including Apollo Global Management Inc., Ares Management Corp., Blackstone Group Inc. and KKR & Co.

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