Private equity major Carlyle has sought an extension for the closing of its latest Asia fund, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, adding that the firm is said to have raised $3 billion so far for the vehicle launched in mid-2022.
Carlyle Asia Partners VI had an original target of $8.5 billion, which was reportedly slashed to $6 billion.
The predecessor fund was closed at $6.55 billion in 2018, taking the total corpus raised by its five Asia buyout funds to $15.55 billion. Last year, it raised $950 million for its second Asia growth fund.
Carlyle also invests through its China and Japan vehicles.
The Bloomberg report said Carlyle’s latest $2.9-billion Japan fund has also cannibalised investor interest in the pan-Asia fund to prioritise the Japanese market.
Investors in the sixth Asia fund will be promised access to Japan’s deal flow, the report said.
Carlyle said in its Q4 2023 earnings call that it was the third-largest fundraising quarter in the history of the firm, driven by commitments in its Japan fund, strategic solutions products in credit, eighth AlpInvest secondaries fund, and the closing of its latest US collateralised loan obligations.
Fundraising has been challenging globally due to macroeconomic headwinds, rising financing costs, and performance uncertainties.
EQT said in its recent earnings call that extensions in fundraising will continue to be a norm, adding that it expected its flagship fundraising cycle to be around 3-3.5 years.
Rising geopolitical tensions have also impacted fundraising in Asia, with allocators reducing exposure to China, one of the biggest private markets in the region.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Carlyle will halve the exposure to China in its new Asia fund to 20%. Meanwhile, the US-based investment firm reportedly planned to allocate about 30-35% of the fund to India, making it Carlyle’s largest market in Asia.
TPG also intended to reduce its China allocation by more than half from prior Asia funds, per media reports.
In May, DealStreetAsia reported that TPG secured close to $8 billion for its TPG Asia VIII, TPG Asia Realty Fund V and TPG Japan Realty Value Fund.
CVC Capital Partners raised $6.8 billion for its sixth Asia fund in February. Last November, Bain Capital announced the close of its fifth pan-Asia private equity fund at $7.1 billion.
In terms of new fundraising processes, EQT said last month it will formally launch the next Asia buyout fund in mid-August. Its predecessor, BPEA VIII, had raised over $11 billion in 2022.
KKR, which closed the largest APAC infrastructure fund at $6.4 billion last year, will also kick off its flagship Asia fund in 2025.
