Carlyle taps TPG, Credit Suisse execs for SE Asia push

The Carlyle Group has brought in Credit Suisse’s Robby Winarta as managing director in Indonesia, as it seeks to increase its investment pace in South-East Asia, according to a statement.

Winarta worked at Credit Suisse for 20 years, most recently as head of Indonesia Investment Banking Coverage, a position that he held for five years. He has been based in Jakarta for 16 years, and prior to that worked with Credit Suisse in New York and Singapore.

He will assume his position at Carlyle’s Jakarta office on July 2 and will lead the firm’s investment activities in the country.

Carlyle has also hired Long Hoang, ex-vice president at TPG as a director based in Singapore. Hoang will start on June 1, focusing on investment activities in Vietnam.

Before joining Carlyle, Hoang covered operations in Singapore and Vietnam for TPG. He was previously a director at mid-market firm Navis Capital Partners and worked at Standard Chartered Private Equity (Singapore), Dragon Capital Group (Vietnam), and Vinacapital Group (Vietnam).

Commenting on the firm’s newest hires, Greg Zeluck, managing director and co-head of the Carlyle Asia buyout team, said: “We are delighted to have two senior veterans with significant industry experience and deep understanding of these local markets join us as we expand our Southeast Asia presence. Their appointments come as Carlyle seeks to further expand its presence in the region, where we believe there will be increasing numbers of attractive investment opportunities going forward.”

With the additions of Winarta and Hoang, Carlyle’s South-East Asian team will now consist of eight investment professionals, focusing principally on small and large market opportunities in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and opportunistically pursuing investments in other markets, the firm said in a statement.

Carlyle established its presence in Asia in 1998 and now has nine offices in the region. The firm’s Asia private equity platform has invested more than $15 billion of equity from 1998 to end-March 2018.

Carlyle is said to be nearing a $5 billion target for its latest buyout vehicle, Carlyle Asia Partners V. Limited partners in the fund include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, California State Teachers’ Retirement System and Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System, according to PEI data.

The firm is also in market with Carlyle Asia Growth Partners V which has a $1 billion target.