We operate our business across four segments: (1) Corporate Private Equity,
(2) Global Market Strategies, (3) Real Assets and (4) Investment Solutions.
Corporate Private Equity
Our Corporate Private Equity segment, established in 1990 with our first U.S.
buyout fund, advises our buyout and growth capital funds, which pursue a wide
variety of corporate investments of different sizes and growth potentials. Our
32 active CPE funds are each carry funds. They are organized and operated by
geography or industry and are advised by separate teams of local professionals
who live and work in the markets where they invest. In our CPE segment we also
have 56 active external co-investment entities. We believe this diversity of
funds and entities allows us to deploy more targeted and specialized investment
expertise and strategies and offers our fund investors the ability to tailor
their investment choices.
Our CPE teams have two primary areas of focus:
Buyout Funds. Our buyout teams advise a diverse group of 22 active funds that
invest in transactions that focus either on a particular geography (e.g., United
States, Europe, Asia, Japan, MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa or South America) or a
particular industry. We continually seek to expand and diversify our buyout
portfolio into new areas where we see opportunity for future growth.
Growth Capital Funds. Our 10 active growth capital funds are advised by four
regionally focused teams in the United States, Europe and Asia, with each team
generally focused on middle-market and growth companies consistent with specific
regional investment considerations. The investment mandate for our growth capital
funds is to seek out companies with the potential for growth, strategic redirection
and operational improvements. These funds typically do not invest in early stage
or venture-type investments.
Global Market Strategies
Our Global Market Strategies segment, established in 1999 with our first high
yield fund, advises a group of 68 active funds that pursue investment strategies
including leveraged loans and structured credit, energy mezzanine opportunities,
middle market lending, distressed debt, long/short credit, long/short emerging
markets equities, macroeconomic strategies, commodities trading and commodity
structured transactions.
Primary areas of focus for our GMS teams include:
Structured Credit Funds. Our structured credit funds invest primarily in performing
senior secured bank loans through structured vehicles and other investment vehicles.
Distressed and Corporate Opportunities. Our distressed and corporate opportunities
funds generally invest in liquid and illiquid securities and obligations, including
secured debt, senior and subordinated unsecured debt, convertible debt obligations,
preferred stock and public and private equity of financially distressed companies
in defensive and asset-rich industries. In certain investments, our funds may
seek to restructure pre-reorganization debt claims into controlling positions
in the equity of reorganized companies.
Middle Market Finance. Our middle market finance business comprises our business
development companies (“BDCs”), which invest primarily in first
lien loans (which include unitranche, "first out" and "last out"
loans) and second lien loans, a CLO consisting of middle market senior, first
lien loans, and our corporate mezzanine funds, which invest in the first-lien,
second-lien and mezzanine loans of middle-market companies, typically defined
as companies with annual EBITDA ranging from $10 million to $100 million that
lack access to the broadly syndicated loan and bond markets.
Energy Mezzanine Opportunities. Our energy mezzanine opportunities team invests
primarily in privately negotiated mezzanine debt investments in North American
energy and power projects and companies.
Long/Short Credit. Claren Road Asset Management LLC (“Claren Road”)
advises two long/short credit hedge funds focusing on the global high grade
and high yield markets totaling, in the aggregate. Claren Road seeks to profit
from market mispricing of long and/or short positions in corporate and municipal
bonds and loans, and their derivatives, across investment grade, below investment
grade (high yield) or distressed companies.
Emerging Market Equity and Macroeconomic Strategies. Emerging Sovereign Group
LLC (“ESG”) advises six emerging markets equities. ESG’s emerging
markets equities funds invest in publicly traded equities across a range of
developing countries. ESG’s macroeconomic funds pursue investment strategies
in developed and developing countries, and opportunities resulting from changes
in the global economic environment.
Commodities. Carlyle Commodity Management ("CCM," a New York-based
commodities investment manager formerly known as Vermillion Asset Management)
serves as investment manager to five hedge funds and two structured products
totaling, in the aggregate. CCM’s investment strategies include relative
value, enhanced index and long-biased physical commodities, commodity sector-focused
funds, and structured transactions. CCM seeks to produce positive, uncorrelated
returns, through a liquid, relative-value, low volatility approach to trading
both physical commodities and their derivatives and structuring transactions
in physical commodities.
Real Assets
Our Real Assets segment, established in 1997 with our first U.S. real estate
fund, advises our 26 active carry funds focused on real estate, infrastructure
and energy and natural resources (including power) and also includes the six
NGP management fee funds and three carry funds that are advised by NGP. This
segment pursues investment opportunities across a diverse array of tangible
assets, such as office buildings, hotels, retail and residential properties,
industrial properties and senior-living facilities, as well as oil and gas exploration
and production, midstream, refining and marketing, power generation, pipelines,
wind farms, refineries, airports, toll roads, transportation, water utility
and agriculture, as well as the companies providing services or otherwise related
to them.