** Goldman Sachs is in talks to buy the subprime servicing business of Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization, people familiar with the situation said. Though perhaps a little late to feast, Goldman recently said it saw opportunities in the beaten-down mortgage industry. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross last month offered to pay $435 million for the servicing business of bankrupt American Home Mortgage Investment. Hedge fund Carrington Capital Management bought the servicing business of bankrupt New Century Financial for $184 million. Morgan Stanley, even while cutting 600 mortgage jobs, is expanding its Saxon Capital servicing business. Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch & Co, and Bear Stearns have also snapped up lenders.
    
** Private equity firm Carlyle Group said it is building a team to expand its reach into the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia. The dealmakers, based in Singapore, will be run by Anand Balasubrahmanyan, a former Morgan Stanley banker. Carlyle Asia Partners will look for buyout and minority investments outside Japan. “We see increasing investment opportunities in Southeast Asia,” said X.D. Yang, managing director and co-head of Carlyle Asia Partners. Carlyle is gassed up for acquisitions with a deal announced in late September to sell a 7.5 percent stake to an investment unit of the Abu Dhabi government for $1.35 billion, valuing the private equity firm at $20 billion.
    
** Carlyle has been recently active in Australia, where leveraged buyouts are making a comeback. It landed a joint bid for equipment hire firm Coates Hire this week, breaking an antipodean drought in large private equity deals. There are signs more activity is on the way after a lull which senior investment bankers say has cut the private equity pipeline by as much as three quarters. While larger bids the size of Coles Group and Qantas Airways are dead, buyouts worth up to A$3 billion are very much alive and kicking. “We believe the market is well and truly open for deals up to A$2-A$3 billion,” said John Knox, co-head of investment banking Australia at Credit Suisse.