US private equity giant Carlyle Group has reported stabilising performance in its flagship buyout business following a series of high-profile portfolio exits, signalling renewed investor confidence after a challenging period, according to a report by the Financial Times.
John Redett, co-president of Carlyle and head of its $164bn buyout unit, said the firm’s strategic focus on monetising investments has paid off. Carlyle leveraged a reopening of IPO markets in the US and Asia to return billions of dollars to investors and strengthen its core operations.
Highlighting the group’s recent activity, Redett pointed to the December 2025 $7.2bn IPO of medical supplies company Medline – the largest US PE-backed listing to date. Other notable exits include aviation parts supplier StandardAero in 2024, credited with reviving IPO activity for private equity-owned companies, as well as public listings of Orion Brewery and analytics firm Rigaku in Japan, and IT consultancy Hexaware in India.
The moves have boosted returns in Carlyle’s US and Japanese flagship buyout funds. In 2025 alone, the firm sold $18bn of assets through IPOs and strategic sales, with an additional $7bn already sold in 2026. The activity helped Carlyle beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations and lifted its share price 6% on the week, with gains exceeding 10% over the past year—outpacing peers including Apollo, Blackstone, and KKR.
Carlyle, founded in 1992, has faced turbulence over the past decade, including a stalled fundraising cycle, management changes, and investment losses. Under CEO Harvey Schwartz and Redett, the group has realigned its PE strategy, refocusing on aerospace and defence, healthcare, industrials, and key Asian markets, while divesting non-core teams and underperforming units.
Redett said: “We were able to deliver $18bn of monetisations in a market impacted by material events, demonstrating that our deal teams continue to execute at a high level.”
