Carlyle Group LP (Nasdaq: CG), the world’s second-biggest buyout firm, agreed with other shareholders to sell a majority stake in Turkish hospital chain Medical Park Saglik Hizmetleri AS to Turkven Private Equity.

Carlyle is selling a 40 percent stake, Can Deldag (pictured), the firm’s co-head for Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, said today on a conference call with reporters. Shareholders Sancak Group and Usta Group also agreed to sell an unspecified holding, Deldag said, without giving financial details.

Medical Park owns 16 hospitals and employs 10,000 people in Turkey, offering buyers the opportunity to tap growing demand for health-care services. The company announced a plan in August to invest $300 million in four hospitals of the Liv Hospital Group in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, over three years.

Carlyle and its partners hired Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to advise on the sale, the company said in September. TPG Capital and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. were among buyout firms also interested in acquiring the business, people familiar with the matter said in November.

Carlyle is continuing to study potential acquisitions in Turkey, Deldag said.

Mergers & Acquisitions listed Turkey as one of the "10 Emerging Markets to Watch" in the July 2013 cover story. Financial sponsors have been lured by Turkey's growth, with some of the top private equity firms in the U.S. considering it as a potential locale to source deals. In addition to Carlyle, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) and TPG have also been known to explore deal opportunities, especially in health care.

The Abraaj Group, considered the Middle East's largest private equity firm, with $7.5 billion in assets and 31 offices in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, sold its stake in Turkey's largest hospital chain Acibadem Saglik to Integrated Healthcare Holdings in 2012. 

Additional reporting by Anthony Noto