Carlyle Group, the Washington-based buy-out and private equity specialist, plans to launch the biggest independently managed corporate buyou...

Carlyle Group, the Washington-based buy-out and private equity specialist, plans to launch the biggest independently managed corporate buyout fund in history within the next few months. The $6.5 billion Carlyle Partners IV fund has raised more than $5 billion since last September and is expected to raise the rest of the money from wealthy investors and institutions within the next few weeks. Reports in the US press suggest interest in the fund was such that it could have raised more than $7 billion but that the firm’s founders were worried that a bigger fund would drag down returns. The very rapid raising of capital for the fund reflects the current buoyant state of private equity funds as pension funds, other larger institutional investors, and the very wealthy have experienced good returns on private equity in recent years. Blackstone, another US-based private equity firm, recently said that it has taken €1 billion ($1.3 billion) from German institutions within just 14 days. The firm has also said it plans to establish a new fund this year that will eclipse Carlyle IV.