Carlyle raises $3.9 billion for fourth Asia investment fund

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Carlyle Group , one of the world's largest private equity firms, said on Monday it has closed its fourth Asia fund at $3.9 billion, the second-largest private equity fund ever raised for Asia investments.

Carlyle Asia Partners IV, which will invest in deals in Asia excluding Japan, is 53 percent larger than the firm's previous fund, which raised $2.55 billion in 2010, and exceeded its target of $3.5 billion.

The new fund, second only to KKR & Co's $6 billion Asia fund raised last year, adds to a record amount of uninvested capital, or dry powder, that private equity firms have raised for Asia.

Carlyle, which set up its first office in Asia in 1998, has $13.6 billion in assets under management in buyout, growth, yuan and real estate funds across Asia, including Japan.

(Reporting by Stephen Aldred; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)