Carlyle chases after Asia with $410m fund.

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group announced that it has raised $410 million in equity for its first Asian real estate fund, Carlyle Asia Real Estate Partners. With leverage, this fund can purchase approximately $1.5 billion in real estate assets. Ten investment professionals based in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo will invest primarily in office, retail, residential and industrial properties in China, Japan and Korea. Globally, Carlyle now has seven real estate funds with a total of $4 billion in committed capital.

Jason It. Lee, Carlyle managing director and head of the Asia real estate group, said, "We appreciate the support of our investors in this new fund. The success of our three pre-fund investments demonstrates that private equity has an important role to play in the Asian real estate market. We will continue to target properties where we can add value through hands-on asset management and identify strategic partnerships with local operators and developers."

Rio Minami, Carlyle managing director and head of the Japan real estate team, added, "Last year Carlyle started real estate investments in Japan where we see opportunities in its sizable economy. With the new fund, we will build up a balanced Asia real estate portfolio in our three target markets: China, Japan and Korea."

Carlyle Asian real estate investments include: Century Tower in Seoul, Pacific Tower in Seoul, Omiya Center Building in Saitama City, Japan and Diamond Warehouses outside Tokyo, Japan).