U.S. private equity giant Carlyle Group on Tuesday said it has raised $1.1 billion for its first financial-services fund as it gears up to invest in more financial-services companies worldwide.

The Carlyle Global Financial Services Partners fund, led by Olivier Sarkozy as head of the financial-services team, has already made three investments comprising 30% of the fund and taking advantage of the effects of the financial crisis on banking and other financial institutions.

In 2008 Carlyle bought a 25% non-voting stake in Boston Private Financial Holdings (BPFH), which owns a stable of wealth- and investment-management firms and last year invested alongside Blackstone Group (BX), W.L. Ross & Co. and Centerbridge Partners in BankUnited, one of the largest thrifts to fail.

"Olivier and his team have made three promising investments already, which, for a first-time fund, demonstrated to investors along the way that we had assembled a talented group at the right time to capitalize on a range of opportunities in the financial-services space," said Carlyle Co-Founder David M. Rubenstein.

Carlyle is also expected to be among the bidders for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's (RBS) Global Merchant Services business, a disposal forced on the U.K. bank as a condition of being bailed out by the government.

-By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; 415 439 6455; marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com
Boston Private Financial (NASDAQ:BPFH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024 Click Here for more Boston Private Financial Charts.
Boston Private Financial (NASDAQ:BPFH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024 Click Here for more Boston Private Financial Charts.