Carlyle’s Mexico City team spins out

The Carlyle Group’s five-person, Mexico City-based team has become independent and rebranded as EMX Capital.

Going forward, Carlyle will have a “meaningful minority stake” in EMX’s carry, said a person familiar with the arrangement.

Carlyle came to the conclusion that it would not be able to raise a subsequent Mexico fund on a scale that makes sense for the Carlyle franchise. The source put that figure at $500 million or more.

“The current global economic environment has led us to focus Carlyle's initiatives on geographies where we can reach a larger scale,” Carlyle managing director David Rubenstein said in an EMX statement. “Joaquin and the team have done an excellent job and we are pleased to form this partnership with them,” Rubenstein said.

Led by Joaquin Avila, EMX will continue to manage the $134 million Carlyle Mexico Partners fund and related portfolio companies, including Arabela, a Mexican direct seller of novelty, personal care and home goods.

The fund closed on $134 million in 2007 and has approximately 30 percent of its capital left to deploy. It invests in private and publicly owned high growth businesses, restructurings and NAFTA companies in Mexico.

A Carlyle spokesman stressed that the firm is “still investing in Mexico through the current fund and in partnership with EMX”.

Carlyle established its Mexico City office in 2004.