Carlyle Group, the private equity firm, this week warned its investors that they were unlikely to see returns on their investments soon.

"You should expect very few distributions from us," said Bill Conway, Carlyleâ??s co-founder and chief investment officer, during a conference call with more than 400 investors on Monday.

He also added that "investors should expect very few new deals and that asset prices did not reflect grim economic realities globally."

Carlyle noted that it was valuing its investment in ailing semiconductor company Freescale at 50 cents on the dollar and HD Supply at 65 cents on the dollar.

It added that companies it had invested in such as Hertz, the car rental company, and Dunkin Brands, owner of fast food chain Dunkin Donuts, were both flagging economic softness ahead.

Mr Conway said that debt for new deals or existing portfolio companies was non-existent and said that, when the market did return, debt would cost at least 2 or 3 percentage points more than in the recent past.

The firm said that the most attractive opportunity today lies in buying back the safest layer of the debt of Carlyle-owned companies.