Private equity firm Carlyle Group LP may price the initial public offering of its common stock below its proposed range, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.
Carlyle now reportedly plans to sell its common stock between $22 and $23 per share. Earlier, the company had said in a regulatory filing that it expects to price the IPO between $23 and $25 per common unit. Carlyle intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol "CG".
Carlyle is still planning to sell 30.50 million common units to the public and price the deal Wednesday after the market closes. The company's shares are scheduled to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq.
According to the Bloomberg report, Carlyle has enough orders to cover the sale at $23 and may choose to price the IPO lower in order to increase the possibility of gains for investors on the first day of trading and better performace in the longer term.
Carlyle, by offering a discount, is reportedly seeking to avoid the fate of its peers such as Blackstone Group LP (BX) and Apollo Global Management LLC (APO), who are still trading below their IPO prices set in 2007 and 2011 respectively. Carlyle is said to be looking for a valuation that puts it at a discount to Blackstone's current level.
In addition, in April, investment management firm Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK) announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 8.84 million shares at $43 per Class A unit, the bottom of its proposed range. The company had earlier expected to offer 11.25 million shares between $43 and $46 per share. Oaktree's shares are currently trading just above $40, below the IPO price.
As of December 31, 2011, Carlyle had $147 billion in assets under management.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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