HONG KONG - US private equity fund Carlyle Group is selling 250 million shares, or nearly a third of its holding, in China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd (CPIC) for up to $1 billion, International Financing Review (IFR) reported on Tuesday.

When completed, Carlyle would have raised about $3.6 billion from three sell-downs in China Pacific Insurance since December, after ploughing about $800 million between 2005-07 for a 17 percent stake.

A series of sell downs in CPIC -- the nation's third-biggest insurer -- has put the US buyout fund on course for its biggest ever cash exit, as and when it completely sells out of the company.

Following the latest sell down, Carlyle will be left about 440 million CPIC shares worth HK$14 billion ($1.8 billion), based on Tuesday's close, according to Reuters calculation.

In the latest sell down, Carlyle is offering the shares in the HK$30.90-31.40/share range, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication said. That represents a discount of 1.7-3.3 percent discount to Tueday's close.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the joint bookrunners, the report added.

Carlyle declined to comment, while the bookrunners could not be reached for comment.