Carlyle Group ranked world's largest PE firm by Private Equity International

A proprietary ranking of private equity firms by Private Equity International (PEI media) has reported in its May 2008 issue that the world's 50 largest private equity firms have together raised $810 billion equivalent to 65 per cent of the total private equity investrment of $1,246 billion raised over the last five years ending last month from 2003-2007.

Topping the list are are Carlyle, Goldman Sachs, TPG, KKR and CVC. Carlyle had also ranked on top when the PEI 50 debuted last year, having raised $32.5 billion over five years. It was followed by KKR, Goldman Sachs, The Blackstone Group and TPG.

World's Top 5 PE firms

  • Carlyle with $52 billion raised
  • Goldman Sachs with 49 billion raised
  • TPG with $48.75 billion raised,
  • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with $39.67 billion
  • CVC Capital Partners at $36.84 billion.

Established in 1987, Washington-based Carlyle has 60 individual funds totalling over $81.1 billion under management spread across four investment disciplines - buyout, venture and growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance invested in over 600 investments.
The magazine said that the Top 50 in this year's list raised 47 per cent more than those in last year's list and added that 34 of the Top 50 were headquarterd in North America, 11 in the UK and five were European-headquarterd firms.

Carlyle-affiliated private equity funds have drawn commitments of $52 billion (€33 billion) since 1 January 2003, outpacing the private equity fundraising of number two on the list, Goldman Sachs' Principal Investment Area, by nearly $3 billion over the same time period.
Working on background with many of the firms themselves as well as with market sources and industry data services, PEI determines the rankings based on the amount of private equity direct-investment capital raised by each firm over the past five years.

The PEI 50 2008 has also ranked private equity firms based on the amount of private equity direct-investment capital raised over a roughly five-year time period . The methodology includes capital raised or formed for buyouts, venture capital, growth equity, distressed-for-control and mezzanine debt strategies. It excludes funds of funds, hedge funds, debt funds, infrastructure and real estate funds.

The PEI 50 Rankings
Rank
Name of Firm
Headquarters
Capital Raised OverL last five years*
2007 Rank
1 The Carlyle Group Washington DC
$52 billion
1
2 Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area New York
$49.05 billion
3
3 TPG Fort Worth (Texas)
$48.75 billion
5
4 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts New York
$39.67 billion
2
5 CVC Capital Partners London
$36.84 billion
10
6 Apollo Management New York
$32.82 billion
12
7 Bain Capital Boston
$31.71 billion
8
8 Permira London
$25.43 billion
6
9 Apax Partners London
$25.23 billion
7
10 The Blackstone Group New York
$23.3 billion
4