NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Private equity firm

Carlyle has hired two senior executives for its

direct-lending business as it tries to boost its share of a

growing market, the company said on Thursday.

Michael Meagher joins as a partner from private credit firm

Golub Capital, and JP Seminario moves to a managing director

role from his previous position at investment firm Silver Point

Capital. Both will focus on origination, or raising new debt

deals, in the U.S., according to an internal memo. A Carlyle

spokesperson confirmed the hires.

Corporations that once relied on banks have increasingly

borrowed outside the traditional system in recent years as the

number of debt products that banks offer declined and their

lending policies tightened.

Direct lending, or loaning companies money raised from private

investors, now accounts for around one-third of a private credit

market that was worth around $1.8 trillion at the end of last

year, according to Morgan Stanley.

Carlyle's direct-lending business now manages assets worth

$12.5 billion, up from $2 billion in 2016, the memo said. That

is a small slice of the more than $200 billion sitting in its

global credit business.

Like many of its peers, Carlyle identified other business areas,

including credit, to try to boost returns as the traditional

model of buying and selling businesses struggled against higher

interest rates and market volatility.

The new hires follow Carlyle's appointment of former Goldman

Sachs banker Alex Chi to lead direct lending, starting in

early 2026.