Carlyle takes minority stake in Chinese online advertising company

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Carlyle Group has bought a minority stake in Chinese online and mobile-based classified advertising business Ganji.com, the global private equity firm said on Tuesday.

Founded in 2005, Ganji.com provides listings including job recruitment, housing and local services to more than 350 cities in China.

"Ganji.com is well-positioned to benefit from the evolution of industry digitalisation, high demand for online classifieds and local services, an enormous internet and mobile internet user base as well as an increasingly sophisticated e-commerce culture in China," Eric Zhang, managing director of Carlyle, said in a statement.

Equity for the deal came from the Carlyle Asia Partners IV fund, but financial details were .

Carlyle Group had $203 billion (£120.73 billion) of assets under management across 126 funds and 139 fund of funds vehicles at June 30. As of Mar. 31, Carlyle had invested $5.2 billion in about 80 transactions in China.


(Reporting by Stephen Aldred; Editing by David Goodman)