UPDATE 1-TPG special situations team registering BDC-filing

* Specialty Lending team run by two ex-Goldman execs

* Provides capital to mid-market companies (Adds details about TPG Specialty Lending)

By Megan Davies

NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Private equity giant TPG Capital's [TPG.UL] special situations investing team is registering a business development company, it said in a filing on Friday, taking advantage of a gap in the market in providing capital to mid-market companies.

TPG Specialty Lending invests mainly in senior secured and mezzanine loans to middle-market companies, according to the filing.

Filing to be a business development company can bring the advantage of public liquidity and can also have tax advantages.

The Specialty Lending team is led by Co-Chief Investment Officers Alan Waxman and Joshua Easterly.

TPG said in a letter to investors last year that it hired Waxman, formerly a partner at Goldman Sachs (GS.N) specializing in distressed and asset-backed distressed markets, in order to build a debt investment team.

Waxman was the co-founder of the Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group and Easterly was the former co-head of the same group at Goldman.

TPG Specialty Lending is focused on companies with annual earnings of up to $250 million.

Rival private equity firm Apollo Global Management [APOLO.UL] also has a BDC, Apollo Investment Corp (AINV.O), which provides subordinated debt and equity capital to middle-market companies.

Separately, a number of private equity firms have either gone public or are making plans to list themselves. However, a source close to TPG said the firm itself has no plans to go public.

Blackstone Group (BX.N) went public in 2007, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR.N) became publicly traded in 2009 and Apollo is on the way to becoming listed. Carlyle [CYL.UL] is also considering going public, a source previously told Reuters.

TPG is one of the world's largest private equity firms with assets under management of more than $48 billion.

(Editing by Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)