Carlyle raises $300m for core-plus, international RE

The Washington, DC-based firm is also marketing its latest opportunistic fund.

The Carlyle Group raised $300 million in the fourth quarter for real estate funds, largely for its core-plus platform, the firm said in its third-quarter earnings Wednesday.

The Washington, DC-based private equity firm had garnered $500 million in commitments for the core-plus fund, Carlyle Property Investors, as of August, PERE previously reported. A spokesman declined to disclose the total raised to date.

On the earnings call, co-chief executive David Rubenstein said the firm sees substantial growth for the core-plus real estate business. Bill Conway, the other co-CEO, said Carlyle has been able to draw on the success of its team and track record in the opportunistic real estate space for CPI.

“In terms of the core-plus real estate fund, it’s going to get bigger,” he said on the call. “Exactly how much bigger and how soon, I don’t know.”

Limited partners in the fund include the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System, which committed $60 million in May.

Carlyle is also marketing its largest opportunistic fund to date, Carlyle Realty Partners VIII. Conway said the firm will continue focusing on demographic-driven real estate investments through the latest fund, such senior housing as the US population continues to age.

“Our demographic focus is something that sets us apart,” he said. “We’re less dependent on GDP growth, like the office market might be.”

The firm started pre-marketing CRP VIII in the third quarter and is seeking $5 billion for the vehicle, PERE previously reported. Carlyle launched the predecessor fund in 2013 and closed it in December 2014 on $4.2 billion, at the fund’s hard-cap. CRP VII had $2.2 billion invested and a 1.2x investment multiple as of December 31, according to the fourth-quarter earnings statement. The firm did not disclose gross or net returns for the fund, however.

Overall, Carlyle had $158 billion in assets under management, down 14 percent year-on-year. The firm ended the quarter with $34.3 billion in real assets under management, down 10 percent compared with the year earlier.