Carlyle Group, the private equity major, has decided to pull out of its two emerging markets operations. It has decided to close its Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) operations and Asia Leveraged Finance Group. While it will be laying off 10 people from CEE operations, seven people from Asia Leveraged team will also get the pink slip, reports Financial News. Those getting the sack will include team chiefs of both the division.
This is a significant pullback by the private equity major from its emerging markets operations. Carlyle Asia Leveraged Finance invested in leveraged debt instruments including senior secured loans, high yield bonds and mezzanine securities across Asia Pacific. It was raising a fund to invest in loans for private equity deals. The team also included Rahul Gupta, who joined the team last year.
The Carlyle Group's $22 billion mortgage-backed securities fund went bankrupt in March this year. Carlyle has assets under management exceeding $91.5 billion and it employs around 1,000 people. Interestingly, this cuts come a month after Carlyle co-founder and managing director David Rubenstein, speaking at a conference in Dubai, predicted âprivate equityâs finest hourâ could be on the horizon. Rubenstein was also of the view that more capital would be deployed in emerging markets as investors became nervous about investing in âsubmergingâ markets.