Sept 4 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group ( CG ) said on Thursday

it had raised $20 billion to buy second-hand private equity

stakes from investors looking to offload assets that built up

during a downturn in public listings and acquisition deals.

The investment firm's AlpInvest unit, operating in the

secondary market, raised $15 billion for its latest flagship

fund along with $3.2 billion in co-investment commitments,

Carlyle said.

A further $2 billion was raised for private wealth vehicles

that will invest affluent people's money alongside the main

fund, the company said in a statement.

A slowdown in deals led to a build-up of some 29,000

companies valued at $3.6 trillion in private equity firms'

portfolios by the end of 2024, according to research from

consultants at Bain.

The secondary market has offered a way to get some cash for

those assets, albeit usually at a discount to previous

valuations.

The value of secondary market assets swelled to $601 billion

in 2024 from $273 billion in 2019 and now represents 5% of all

private equity assets under management globally, Bain said in

its 2025 private equity report.

(Reporting by Isla Binnie

Editing by Ros Russell)