募股权投资公司凯雷投资集团（Carlyle Group）宣布，首次交割其具有历史意义的人民币基金，此前该基金通过北京市政府一个下属分支牵头的政府和民间部门投资者那里筹得相当于3.5亿美元的资金。
凯雷投资集团周五还表示，已组成一家投资管理合资企业，向该基金的主要投资机构之一──北京国有资本经营管理中心的新人民币基金提供顾问服务。北京国有资本经营管理中心是北京市政府拥有的控股公司，侧重钢铁制造、采煤和运输等行业。
交割人民币基金使凯雷投资集团获得24亿元人民币的注资承诺，将使凯雷集团能够开始将这些资金投入人民币基金中。凯雷集团的共同创始人兼董事总经理鲁宾斯坦（David Rubenstein）说，公司计划今年年底前筹集基金计划中50亿元人民币目标的余下金额。
人民币计价的基金已成为中国私募业的业务中心，百仕通集团（Blackstone Group LP）及其他私募股权投资公司均已宣布了人民币基金。这些公司希望与本地投资机构合作，使他们获得投资者的认可，提高监管机构批准的效率，并进入禁止外国投资进入的领域。
鲁宾斯坦在北京接受采访时说，现在我们有一个以人民币计价的基金，这多多少少让我们与当地政府有了一种合作关系，我想这让我们在当地有了更多信任度。
凯雷集团并不是第一个推出人民币基金计划的私募公司，该基金于1月推出，但该集团表示，这是第一个大型外资企业宣布首次交割其基金。
凯 雷集团表示，这一人民币基金旨在关注大型、高增长企业。凯雷董事总经理杨向东说，该基金可能将侧重消费者相关业务和医疗保健业（这是其中国其他基金近期投 资目标所属的领域）以及替代能源业。他说，该基金还希望投资国有企业，帮助其重组，凯雷与北京市政府的关系将对此有所帮助。
杨向东说，人民币基金的主要好处之一是我们在[有限的合作伙伴中]建立非常强大的人脉。我认为这将是交易的良好资源，还可以帮助我们获得既让企业舒服、又可以轻易获得监管批准的交易。
Carlyle Group announced the first closing of its landmark Chinese-currency-denominated fund after raising the equivalent of $350 million from a group of government and private-sector investors led by an arm of the Beijing city government.
The U.S. private-equity firm also said Friday it has formed an investment management joint venture to advise the new yuan fund with one of the fund's leading investors, the Beijing State-owned Capital Operation and Management Center, a city government-owned holding company with interests in steel-making, coal mining, and transportation.
The closing, for which Carlyle received commitments of 2.4 billion yuan, will enable Carlyle to start investing the money in the yuan fund. David Rubenstein, Carlyle's co-founder and managing director, said it the company expects to raise the remainder of the fund's planned total of 5 billion yuan by the end of the year.
Funds denominated in the Chinese currency, which is formally called the renminbi, have become the central focus in the private-equity industry in China, with Blackstone Group LP and other firms also having announced renminbi funds. The companies hope partnering with local investors will make them more palatable to investors, streamline regulatory approval, and give them access to deals in sectors where foreign investment is restricted.
'Now we have a fund that is in local currency, that more or less puts us in partnership with local government authorities,' Mr. Rubenstein said in an interview in Beijing. 'I think it gives us more credibility in the local community.'
Carlyle wasn't the first to unveil plans for its renminbi fund, which it did in January, but it says it is the first major foreign firm to announce an initial closing for its fund.
The renminbi fund is designed to focus on large, high-growth companies, Carlyle says. X.D. Yang, a Carlyle managing director, said the fund will likely focus on consumer-related businesses and healthcare-areas it has targeted in recent investments by its other China-focused funds-as well as alternative energy. He said it will also look to invest in state-owned enterprises that it can help restructure-a sector for which its connection to the Beijing city government will be helpful, he said.
'One of the main benefits of the renminbi fund is that we're going to develop a very strong network of [limited partners],' Mr. Yang said. 'And I think that will be a very good source of deals and also will help us to secure deals both in terms of getting the companies comfortable and in making regulatory approval easier.'