By Allison McNeely | Updated on Jun 10, 2026 at 06:23 PM
Carlyle Group Inc. kicked off fundraising for its ninth flagship fund, looking to match the $14.8 billion raised by the previous version and show momentum in its buyout group.
The Washington, DC-based firm held a call with investors last week, where it affirmed earlier guidance on the target size for Carlyle Partners IX, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.
The firm is looking to close the first fundraising round by the end of the year and is offering a 15-basis-point discount, or 0.15%, on the management fee for investors who commit before then, the people said.
Carlyle also began fundraising for its new defense fund last week, the people said. That fund is expected to gather anywhere from $2.5 billion to more than $3 billion, the people said.
Read more: Carlyle Targets Defense Sector With New Investment Platform
A representative for Carlyle declined to comment.
Chief Executive Officer Harvey Schwartz said at a conference last month that he’s confident about the firm’s prospects as it embarks on a “super cycle” of fundraising, despite the geopolitical uncertainty this year.
Shares of private equity firms have slumped in 2026, dragged down by concerns about artificial intelligence driving a “SaaSpocalypse” in software-as-a-service investments, weakness in private credit and concerns about the Iran war. Carlyle’s shares have declined roughly 24% this year. The firm has said its software exposure is about 6% of assets under management.
Carlyle’s fundraising push comes after the alternative asset manager arranged a first-of-its-kind, $8.5 billion structured financing to return capital to existing investors and seed more than $5 billion for its next buyout fund.
That structure, which is a mix of debt and equity, has attracted interest across the industry, and other firms are weighing trying to replicate the strategy, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Read more: Carlyle Seeds Buyout Fund With $5 Billion in Novel Credit Deal
Carlyle’s last attempt to raise money for a buyout fund, which included a strategy for growth investments, fell well short of its $27 billion initial target because of the broader industry slowdown and doubts about the firm’s performance.
Executives have said that Carlyle Partners VII’s returns have improved more recently, and the eighth fund is on track to be a strong vintage.
The firm has focused on exiting investments, including recent secondary share offerings for Medline Inc. and StandardAero Inc. It generated $7 billion of proceeds across its US buyouts business as of the first quarter, a record for the firm.