The Carlyle Group L.P.'s issuance of perpetual preferred units results in debt-to-adjusted EBITDA leverage of about 2.2x, higher than our previous expectation of below 2.0x. We are lowering our issuer credit and senior unsecured issue ratings on Carlyle to 'BBB+' from 'A-'. At the same time, we are assigning a 'BBB-' rating on the company's proposed perpetual preferred units, which the company expects to use for general corporate purposes, including funding underlying general partner commitments. The stable outlook on Carlyle incorporates our expectation that the company's fee-paying assets under management will increase modestly in 2017 and considerably in 2018 with the current fundraising initiatives. It also incorporates our forecast that Carlyle will operate with debt-to-adjusted EBITDA leverage in the lower
