Carlyle, Ariel set sights on portfolio company diversity
February 18, 2021
A pair of high-profile investors are each launching new initiatives aimed at improving diversity at their portfolio companies in the private markets.
- The Carlyle Group has secured a $4.1 billion credit facility for its private equity funds in the US, with the price of the debt directly linked to an existing goal of having 30% of the directors on the boards of Carlyle's portfolio companies come from diverse backgrounds.
- The firm cited internal research that annual earnings growth has been about 12% greater at Carlyle portfolio companies that have two or more directors from diverse backgrounds.
- Separately, public markets investor Ariel Investments has launched Ariel Alternatives, a new private asset management firm that will invest in middle-market companies that are not currently owned by minorities, with the goal of converting them into minority-owned businesses. The firm will also back existing companies led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.
- The co-founders of Ariel Alternatives are Leslie Brun, founder and former chairman and CEO of Hamilton Lane, and Mellody Hobson, who is co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the incoming chairwoman of the board at Starbucks and a director at JPMorgan Chase.