Carlyle seeks up to $8 billion valuation in IPO: report

Carlyle Group LP, the second-biggest private-equity firm in the US is seeking a market valuation of $7.5 billion to $8 billion in an initial public offering (IPO), and is preparing to launch a worldwide marketing blitz to investors as soon as next week, Bloomberg yesterday reported, citing people with knowledge of its plans.

Carlyle's underwriters have completed their valuation work, which will help set a price range for the stock offering, the report said. Carlyle plans to sell a stake of about 10 percent in the IPO.

Washington-based Carlyle, which has been planning an IPO since 2007, had to put plans on hold due to the global financial crisis, and now may delay its marketing blitz if investors are not attracted to Oaktree Capital Group's IPO, scheduled for 11 April.

At $8 billion, Carlyle's valuation would be less than half of Blackstone Group 2007 IPO, which valued the world's largest private-equity firm at around $33 billion.

Carlyle had initially sought to convince analysts that it deserved a valuation comparable to Blackstone's because its steadier earnings would give investors a stable dividend than most of its rivals, the report said.

According to Carlyle's IPO prospectus, it had $147 billion under management, while Blackstone had $166 billion as of 31 December 2011.