Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has acquired ITRS Group, a global provider of real-time monitoring systems for the world's financial institutions, in partnership with its founders and management.

ITRS is a fast-growing, multi-award winning technology provider, primarily focused on supplying the financial services sector with trading infrastructure monitoring software. The company has over 600 installations worldwide and its clients include 8 of the top 10 global investment banks, and several brokers, exchanges, hedge funds and data vendors. In the year ended March 2011, ITRS generated more than £16 million in revenues. The company was formed in 1997. It is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Hong Kong and Manila.

Carlyle will support ITRS' international expansion and is committed to broadening of the company's specialized product offering. Furthermore, this investment will facilitate ITRS' diversification and continue to enable clients to be at the forefront of the market's evolving demand for continuous real-time risk and performance monitoring of trading platforms.

Equity for this investment will come from Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II (CETP II), a €530 million fund that closed in November 2008. Since 2002, Carlyle's European Technology team has invested in 22 companies, supporting their growth, expansion and business transformation initiatives.

Recent fund investments in the financial technology sector include: FRS Global, a risk and regulatory compliance software vendor to the financial services industry; Trema, a provider of treasury and asset management software for corporations and financial institutions; and Apama, a platform for complex event processing.