Carlyle Group closes U.S. fund at $7.85 billion

Carlyle Group closes U.S. fund at $7.85 billion    The Carlyle Group, a private equity company based in Washington, D.C., has closed its U.S. buy-out fund at $7.85 billion. With a 3:1 ratio of debt to equity, the U.S. fund could take on projects worth more than $31 billion.
   'We have a level of capital we can invest well over the next five years,' David Rubenstein, a co-founder of Carlyle, told The Financial Times.
   Carlyle also said it had raised $2.2 billion for a European buy-out fund, which has already made five investments. The company's investment range for deals in Europe is 200 million euros to one billion euros.
   The group's U.S. and European funds have attracted investor interest in 50 countries, Carlyle said.