The Carlyle Group has raised $1.86 billion for its Carlyle International Energy Partners, according to a filing with the SEC. The filing did not disclose a fundraising target or whether this was a final close.
The international energy fund focuses on oil and gas exploration and production, midstream, oil field services, and refining and marketing in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
The Energy Partners vehicle was launched in August 2013, and it has started investing its capital. This month, Carlyle International Energy Partners and Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund entered in a partnership with Dangote Industries. It will invest substantial equity across the oil and gas value chain including exploration and production, refining and gas commercialization in projects that enhance local energy capacity, create jobs and contribute to a sustainable energy future in Africa. Carlyle and DIL, through the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, will also invest in consumer, financial services and agribusiness sectors, building blocks of the African economy.
Earlier investments include the oil and gas platform Varo Energy, which is an energy business in northwest Europe with the Vitol Group. Vitol and Carlyle International Energy Partners will each own 50 percent of an enlarged Varo Energy Group. AtlasInvest will sell its shareholding in Varo Energy to Carlyle International Energy Partners while Vitol will reduce its current stake to enable each party to own 50 percent.
Another investment was a $200 million equity commitment to Discover Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company. The investment enabled Discover Exploration to participate in an immediate two-well, deep-water drilling program in the Taranaki and Canterbury basins offshore New Zealand, and to fund an exploration program offshore the Comoros.
This year in February, Carlyle appointed Robert Maguire as a managing director for Carlyle International Energy Partners. And in May the firm appointed Eric Faillenent as a principal.
Carlyle International Energy Partners is a key component of Carlyle’s global energy platform, which has $28 billion in asset under management, includes a strategic partnership with NGP Energy Capital Management (exploration and production investing in North America); Energy Mezzanine financing; energy infrastructure and power generation (Cogentrix); commodities (Vermillion); and the firm’s buyout capabilities in transactions such as Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Kinder Morgan.
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $199 billion of assets under management across 120 funds and 133 fund of funds vehicles as of March 31.