Carlyle raises $424m via Haier sell-down

The private equity firm offloaded its remaining 140 million shares, or a 5.24% stake, at HK$23.50 apiece. This represented a 6.7% discount to the April 15 closing price of HK$25.20.

Carlyle bought $194 million worth of convertible bonds and warrants in the company in August 2011, allowing it to acquire about 9% of the business. The investment was made through Hawaii Asia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carlyle Asia Partners III, a $2.55 billion vehicle launched in 2007.

Since then shares in HEG have jumped 166%, soaring from HK$9.49 in August 2011 to HK$25.20 on April 15. In January of last year, Carlyle made a partial exit from the firm, selling 100 million shares for $285 million.

HEG is the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Qingdao-based Haier Group; another subsidiary trades in Shanghai. In 2013, KKR agreed to buy a 10% stake in the Shanghai-listed entity for $552 million.

Set up in 1984, Haier produces washing machines and water heaters under the Haier brand. In recent years the firm has expanded into distributing third-party products and logistics services. HEG saw its revenue rise 8% last year to RMB67.1 billion ($10.8 billion), while net income increased 19% to RMB2.5 billion.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Exits
• Consumer
• China
• Exit
• The Carlyle Group
• Consumer
• Hong Kong (China)