Carlyle goes on hunt for deals in Southeast Asia

TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] said on Thursday it is expanding its reach into the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia by building a team of dealmakers in Singapore.

Carlyle has appointed Anand Balasubrahmanyan as managing director to lead the team's search for attractive targets.

The former Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) banker will form part of Carlyle's network in Asia excluding Japan, Carlyle Asia Partners, which looks for buyout and minority investments.

"We see increasing investment opportunities in Southeast Asia," said X.D. Yang, managing director and co-head of Carlyle Asia Partners.

"Each of these countries has demonstrated strong economic growth and stability in recent years and we expect such trends to continue."

Carlyle will particularly focus its efforts in Southeast Asia on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Carlyle Asia Partners was established in 1997 and has $2.56 billion of funds under management.