Carlyle enters Saudi with lighting firm stake

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Private equity firm The Carlyle Group on Monday said it had acquired a 30 percent stake in Saudi Arabia's General Lighting Company, the kingdom's largest lighting fixture manufacturer.

Carlyle did not provide financial details for the transaction, which closed on Monday and marks the fund's first investment in Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the Middle East.

Equity for this investment, Carlyle's third in the MENA region, will come from Carlyle MENA Partners, a growth capital and buyout fund that closed in March 2009. Carlyle, which worldwide has nearly $90 billion of assets under management, established its Middle Eastern presence in 2007 and has now regional offices in Cairo, Dubai and Istanbul.END