Private Equity Professionals

Citibank Japan president joins Carlyle in Singapore

The global private equity firm, which has eight offices throughout Asia, has appointed Sunil Kaul as an operationally-focussed senior director as Carlyle seeks to raise its third Asian buyout fund targeting $2bn.

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The Carlyle Group has made a second senior hire from Citi, appointing Citibank Japan president Sunil Kaul as senior director in the global private equity firm’s Singapore office.
 
Kaul will be a member of Carlyle Asia Partners’ financial services team, leveraging his experience in retail, corporate and consumer banking to provide operational expertise to portfolio companies throughout the region. Prior to heading Citibank Japan, Kaul was Asia Pacific regional head of Citi’s retail banking and CitiBusiness.
 

Sunil Kaul

Last month, Citi lost its managing director of investment banking in India to The Carlyle Group’s Mumbai office. In addition to Singapore and Mumbai, Carlyle Asia Partners maintains operations in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.
 
Other key operational executives in Carlyle’s Asia offices include former Coca-Cola Asia president Patrick Siewert in Hong Kong and former managing director of Delphi Asia Pacific Herman Chang in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
 
Kaul will spend the bulk of his time working with portfolio companies in the Carlyle Asia Partners funds, which make control and strategic minority investments. He will apply his expertise to other funds when appropriate.

Carlyle Asia Partners I closed on $750 million in 1999 and Fund II closed on $1.8 billion in 2005. The firm is currently raising a third fund targeting $2 billion (€1.3 billion), according to the Probitas Partners 2008 Private Equity Deskbook. Although not yet closed, Fund III has begun investing according to a company spokesman.
 
Carlyle has two Japan-dedicated buyout funds, the first of which closed on JPY50 billion in 2001 and the most recent of which closed on JPY215.6 billion in 2006.
 
The firm also has two Asia-focussed venture capital funds, one of which closed on $159 million in 2000 and the other of which closed on $170 million in 2002. Carlyle’s Asian growth capital fund closed on $668 million in 2005 and its Asian real estate fund closed on $410 million in 2005.