Carlyle credit arm invests $1.5bn in Citrix and Nielsen buyout debt

Carlyle Group’s credit arm has invested a combined $1.5bn in the debt of two of the highest profile deals of the year so far, the buyout of Citrix Systems Inc and Nielsen Holdings Plc, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report cites unnamed sources as revealing that Carlyle has invested around $750m in the Citrix buyout, with roughly half of that amount being on the secured debt portion that banks syndicated at steep losses last month, and the other 50% or so on a preferred equity piece that was arranged at the start of the year.

The firm has also bought around $750m of the $2.15bn of second-lien debt backing the buyout of Nielsen that banks privately placed earlier this year with a group of lenders that included Ares Management Corp.

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The sources say that Carlyle may make a further investment in Nielsen, a provider television audience measuring services, when banks decide to syndicate the more senior portion of that financing.

A group of lenders including Bank of America Corp and Barclays Plc have decided to fund $8.35 billion of Nielsen debt themselves rather than selling to to third-party investors at steeply discounted prices.

A separate group led by Bank of America, Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is still holding around $6.5 billion of debt for Citrix, which develops enterprise software.

Source: Private Equity Wire

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