David FitzGerald Joins as Managing Director and Co-head of Carlyle Europe Venture Partners

London – Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that David FitzGerald joined the European venture team as managing director and co-head at the beginning of 2004.

David FitzGerald will focus on later-stage investments, including corporate carve-outs, in technology companies across Europe. His appointment will bolster the strategy of the venture fund to invest €15-30 million in later-stage, revenue generating companies with proven management.

“I am delighted that David FitzGerald has joined the team. His experience in larger deals, and deep industry knowledge will be a great asset to drive the team forward. We are focusing on mid-market later-stage investments with lower risk profiles to achieve a balanced portfolio of early and late stage companies,” commented Wolfgang Hanrieder, managing director, The Carlyle Group, and fellow co-head.

Prior to joining The Carlyle Group, Mr. FitzGerald was a partner at Apax, where he was responsible for later stage telecoms investments for Apax’s European fund, and a member of the investment committee. He led several investments in the telecommunications sector, including Blue Arc, a network attached storage business, Damovo, a corporate carve-out from Ericsson and Eyretel, a voice recording call centre business. He spent 16 years at Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, based in both Dublin and the UK, working on projects in oil and gas before specialising in telecommunications. In 1997 he was made head of the UK telecoms practice, where he worked on projects with British Telecom and Cable & Wireless.

“The Carlyle Group has an impressive team and track record and a strong commitment to Europe. The venture team has a great pipeline of potential new deals, and I am looking forward to developing the European venture portfolio with new investments alongside Wolfgang Hanrieder,” said David FitzGerald.

David FitzGerald, 43, has a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College, Dublin in economics and is an Irish national. He is married with three children, and is a former captain of the London Irish Rugby Club.

The Carlyle Europe Venture Partners is a €550 million fund, focused on investing in technology companies in Europe. It was launched in April 2000 and to date has committed 53% of the fund to investments.

###