Carlyle plans $3 bln financial assets fund-source

[Joanne98]

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Carlyle Group is aiming to raise as much as $3 billion to invest in financial assets, of which about $1 billion has already been lined up, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

The firm, which has said in the past it was keen on investing in banks, has been raising the fund for about six to nine months, the source said.

Carlyle declined to comment on the news, which was earlier reported by Bloomberg.

Last week, Carlyle's co-founder David Rubenstein told Reuters that the buyout shop was seeking deals in the financial services sector.

Banks, asset managers and insurers, mainly in the United States and Europe, are potential targets and deals which are most attractive are those with government support, Rubenstein said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1313337520090214

This is why they won't nationalize the banks. Becuase Carlyle and others want a fire sale.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Excellent insight...thanks.

[notesdev]

2. Nationalization isn't a good idea

All that does is stick the taxpayers with the bill. The people who should be taking the losses are the stockholders and bondholders and other creditors of the failed institutions. They made their bed, they should be the ones to lie in it.

I'm not so sure that a 'fire sale' is really a major issue - all these properties are still way overvalued. Most of our major banks ought to have negative stock value, yet they still trade above zero.

I have to confess I'm a little confused as to the continued existence of Carlyle, I thought they went tits up last year in a big overleveraged hedge fund implosion.

[girl gone mad]

3. Shareholders would be wiped out if the banks were nationalized.

That would be the first step.