October 30, 2007

Tom Bawden in New York

The talks, which began over the summer, emerged five months after Blackstone Group, a key rival, sold a 10 per cent stake in itself to the Chinese Government and floated on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the private equity firm, and Och Ziff, the hedge fund, have also announced intentions to float. The hedge fund also announced plans yesterday to sell a 9.9 per cent stake to Dubai International, the investment firm controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, for $1.26 billion (£611 million).

The Social Security Fund, which has about $62 billion of assets, is thought to be keen to tap the vast profits that private equity firms have made in recent years and is said to have also spoken to other suitors.

A deal with the Chinese fund would mark the third sale of a management stake by Carlyle. Previously it has sold small stakes to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) and the Mubadala arm of the Abu Dhabi Government.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2767153.ece