HONG KONG (Reuters) - Carlyle Group <CG.O> said on Thursday it had raised $6.6 billion (5 billion pounds) for its Asia private equity fund, its biggest ever, which will seek buyout and strategic investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors in the region.
The latest fund is more than Carlyle's initial target of $5 billion and is 65 percent bigger than its previous Asia buyout fund, said the U.S.-based private equity firm with $201 billion of assets under management globally.
Reuters reported last month, citing people with knowledge of the matter, that Carlyle had raised its Asia fundraising target following a strong response from its investors and that it was looking to close the fund at $6.5 billion.
"We expect to see more and larger investment opportunities in the region driven by innovation, attractive demographics, rising consumption and corporate spin-offs," X.D. Yang, chairman of Carlyle Asia excluding Japan, said in a statement.
Carlyle's existing portfolio firms in Asia range from a stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent's <0700.HK> e-book unit China Literature <0772.HK> to Metropolis Healthcare, an India-based global operator of pathology laboratories.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Writing by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
