Global private equity firm Carlyle Group has appointed Rahul Gupta, Ryoko Kondo and Agnes Kong as vice-presidents in its Asia leveraged finance group, reporting to managing director and gr
Global private equity firm Carlyle Group has appointed Rahul Gupta, Ryoko Kondo and Agnes Kong as vice-presidents in its Asia leveraged finance group, reporting to managing director and group head Eric Mason.
Carlyle says the new hires, which follow the appointment of Mason in May, will significantly expand the group’s coverage in Japan, greater China and South-East Asia, and enable the Asia leveraged finance group to become a significant investor in leveraged debt instruments including senior secured loans, high yield bonds and mezzanine securities across the Asia-Pacific region.
The establishment of Carlyle’s Asia leveraged finance business is the first of a dedicated leveraged finance team among private equity funds in Asia and complements Carlyle’s established leveraged finance teams in the US and Europe.
‘We aim to build the premiere independent leveraged finance team in Asia to provide an additional financing source for private equity transactions and growth capital typically served only by banks,’ Mason says.
‘The development of capital markets in the US and Europe illustrates the importance of institutional investors in leveraged finance; these institutional investors make up a significant majority of the overall debt volumes. We believe that the growth of non-bank institutional investors in Asia will benefit the development of private equity in this region.
‘We are delighted with these key additions, each of whom brings unique skill sets and experience to the team. Rahul has extensive experience in leveraged finance structuring and high-yield credit research in the region.
‘Agnes has expertise across greater China and joins with a diverse exposure in the business, having worked in New York, Hong Kong and Washington. Ryoko is among the most accomplished leveraged finance bankers in Japan and has helped lead the financing for some of the most important private equity deals in the country.’
Before joining Carlyle, Gupta was a director with UBS’s Asian fixed income research, covering regional high-yield corporate credit. He previously worked for five years at JPMorgan, most recently on its Asian leveraged finance team.
Kondo comes to Carlyle from JPMorgan’s Asia syndicated and leveraged finance team, where she was responsible for originating, structuring and syndicating debt structures for private equity transactions.
Kong was a senior associate in JPMorgan’s Asia syndicated and leveraged finance team focused on greater China, having previously worked for the International Finance Corporation in Washington, Centre Solutions in Hong Kong, and Goldman Sachs in New York.
