The Carlyle Group invests in Mazarine Energy

Investment enables the formation of an oil and gas platform in Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean region

The Hague/London - Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced an investment in Mazarine Energy B.V., an upstream oil and gas company with existing assets in Tunisia. Carlyle will also grant Mazarine Energy access to an equity line of up to $500 million to fund future bolt-on acquisitions, focusing on low risk, near-term, conventional exploration, development and production opportunities in Europe, Africa and the broader Mediterranean region.

Capital for this investment and for the equity line will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners, a $2.5 billion fund that invests in global oil and gas exploration and production, mid- and downstream, oil field services and refining and marketing in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. This acquisition will be the fifth investment by the fund.

Headquartered in The Hague, Mazarine Energy was founded by Edward van Kersbergen in 2013. Later that year, the company’s Tunisian subsidiary obtained operatorship of a permit in central Tunisia. Within 18 months, it had acquired 3D seismic data and drilled two wells, both of which discovered hydrocarbons and were successfully tested at commercial rates. Mazarine Energy is led by an established team with broad management experience, extensive technical expertise, solid industry reputations and strong relationships with industry participants. The company continues to actively review opportunities in the Europe and North Africa,

Marcel van Poecke, Head of Carlyle International Energy Partners, said: “Mazarine Energy has an experienced management team with a strong strategy, enabling them to find opportunities in the current climate.  We have followed the company for some time, and are excited to partner with them to support their future growth plans.”

Edward van Kersbergen, Founder and CEO of Mazarine Energy, said: “We are delighted to welcome Carlyle as an investor.  They have extensive experience on both the operational and investment sides and are ideally placed to work with us as we look to form a regional oil and gas platform in the coming years.”

CIEP current investments include: (a) Varo Energy, a Swiss-based refining, storage and distribution business operating in Germany and Switzerland; (b) Discover Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company based in the UK that focuses on Africa, Latin America and Asia; (c) HES International, a European liquids, dry-bulk storage and handling business; and (d) Black Sea Oil & Gas, a Romanian focused upstream oil and gas development company.

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For More Information

Carlyle                                                                                    
Catherine Armstrong                                                             
+44 (0) 207 894 1632;                                                
catherine.armstrong@carlyle.com                            

Mazarine Energy
Eamon van Stijn
+31 (0)6 53 14 28 82
Eamon.vanstijn@edelman.com

About Mazarine Energy
Mazarine Energy is a private oil and gas exploration and production company focusing on low risk, near-term, conventional exploration, development and production opportunities in Europe, Africa and the broader Mediterranean region. Headquartered in The Hague, the company is currently active in North Africa, with a majority operating interest in the Zaafrane license in central Tunisia, where two exploration wells were drilled close to existing infrastructure. Both discovered hydrocarbons and were successfully tested at commercial rates. Mazarine Energy is actively reviewing additional opportunities in Europe and North Africa.

For more on the company, please visit www.mazarine-energy.com.

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $183 billion of assets under management across 126 funds and 160 fund of funds vehicles as of December 31, 2015. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,700 people in 36 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

About Carlyle’s Energy Platform
Carlyle has constructed a broad-based natural resources  investing platform (currently with over $11 billion in capital to deploy) offering innovative investment opportunities, including international energy investing in oil & gas exploration & production, mid- & downstream, refining & marketing and oil field services in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia (CIEP), U.S. energy investing (NGP Energy Capital Management), project finance (Energy Mezzanine), Power (working alongside portfolio company Cogentrix) and the firm’s proven buyout capabilities in transactions such as Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Kinder Morgan.

About CIEP
Established in May 2013, the CIEP team focuses on oil and gas exploration and production mid- & downstream, refining and marketing and oil field services in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The CIEP team focuses on transactions where it has a distinctive competitive advantage and can create tangible value for companies in which it invests, through industry specialization, deployment of human capital and access to The Carlyle Group’s global network.

The CIEP team consists of 14 investment professionals, all with extensive international oil and gas industry investment and operational expertise. In addition to Marcel van Poecke, the CIEP team includes Bob Maguire and Joost Dröge, both industry veterans with 55 years’ combined successful energy investing experience, as well as Paddy Spink, a Senior Advisor to CIEP, with 35 years’ upstream experience in Africa, Latin America & Europe.

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