Dr. Dre's Beats Electronics Gets Investment from Carlyle

Beats Electronics LLC, founded by U.S. rapper Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine, said private equity firm Carlyle Group LP has agreed to make a minority investment in the audio technology company.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to publicly discuss financial details of the deal, said Carlyle would invest $500 million in Beats Electronics, valuing it at over $1 billion.

Equity for the investment will come from affiliates of Carlyle Partners V, Carlyle's $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund.

Beats Electronics also said it agreed to buy back the minority stake held by Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp in the company.

HTC bought a 50.1 %stake in the company in 2011, but sold half of it a year later.

Founded in 2008, Beats Electronics sells branded headphones, earphones and speakers, as well as Beats Audio software technology.