WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- U.S. corporate buyout firm Carlyle Group has funds exceeding $10 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The Washington-based private equity fund's assets include $7.85 billion in U.S. investments, the largest buyout fund ever raised, the Journal reported. The group also has raised an additional $2.2 billion for European purchases.
Carlyle also will be able to borrow about $45 billion against its $10 billion, giving it more than the combined market capitalizations of Nike Inc. and Ford Motor Co., with plenty of change to spare, the Journal said.
Carlyle's co-founder and managing director, David Rubenstein, said the size of the newest funds means a new group of large and well-known companies could be candidates for private-equity buyers.
"Nothing is off the table now," he told the Journal.
Other funds such as Blackstone Group, Warburg Pincus and Goldman Sachs Group also are expected soon catch up with Carlyle or become larger, the Journal said.
Carlyle's executives have included former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, one-time Clinton Chief of Staff Thomas "Mack" McLarty and former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt.
