Carlyle Hires Citigroup and Goldman for Axalta IPO

Private equity major Carlyle Group has enlisted Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to oversee the public offering of automotive paints manufacturer Axalta Coating Systems.

A flotation could raise about $1bn (€748, £599m); neither of the banks nor Carlyle made comment to Reuters.

Philadelphia-based Axalta makes liquid and powder coatings for the automotive and general transportation industries. It runs 35 manufacturing units and does business in over 130 countries, according to its website.

Carlyle acquired the paints maker from Dupont for $4.9bn in February 2013, making this a relatively fast road to market for the buyout group.

Axalta reported revenues of $4.3bn in 2012 and targets some $7bn by 2018. Carlyle agreed to pay at least 10 times the company's earnings before deductions.

Nasdaq-listed Carlyle's stock finished 0.91% higher on 13 August, valuing the firm at $2.1bn. It currently has about $203bn of assets under management.