Carlyle to pick JPM, Citi, CS for IPO

As it prepares to go public, the Carlyle Group has picked three banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Credit Suisse — to lead its pending initial public offering, people briefed on the matter told DealBook on Friday.

The three banks were among the more than half-dozen to march to Carlyle’s Manhattan offices earlier this week to pitch themselves for lucrative roles in the offering, the latest by a private equity giant.

JPMorgan is expected to be named first in the list of book runners, in the much-coveted “lead-left” position, one of these people said. The bank served as one of the lead book runners for Apollo Global Management’s offering earlier this year.

Others that had sought to win the mandate included Goldman Sachs, an early front-runner that was lead-left on the offerings, including those of Apollo and the Fortress Investment Group.

Citigroup was one of the joint book runners for the Blackstone Group’s IPO in 2007, alongside Morgan Stanley.

Carlyle is expected pick additional book runners that will help canvas potential shareholders in the coming weeks.

The buyout giant may seek to formally file for an initial offering in the third quarter, allowing it to actually go public by the end of the year, these people said. But the timing is dependent on market conditions.


Carlyle hopes to file its IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the third quarter, sources previously told Reuters.

Carlyle will join rivals Blackstone Group LP (BX), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and Apollo Global Management as publicly traded private equity companies.

Private equity firms saw the value of their portfolio companies diminish and their ability to strike new deals evaporate after the credit crisis. However, the outlook for selling portfolio companies and making deals has improved.

Publicly traded shares can help a company give incentives to employees and provide a currency for acquisitions.