Apollo, KKR M&A Frenzy Pushes PE Quartet's Payout to $45 Billion.

(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management Inc., Blackstone Inc. and their rivals handed back $45 billion to investors last quarter as they reported record earnings in a hot market for deals. Carlyle is reportedly seeking as much as $27 billion for its next fund and Blackstone may seek as much as $30 billion for its next main buyout pool, which would make it the industry's largest. And firms including Carlyle Group Inc. and KKR & Co. are rapidly spending current funds as they prepare to return to the market with bigger buyout pools. [Extracted from the article]