WASHINGTON — Private-equity firm Carlyle Group LP will for the first time sell shares in one of its investment funds to the public, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday.

After a planned initial public offering of stock in June or July, the Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. fund could have up to $1 billion to invest, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The fund, which will focus on mortgage-backed securities, has already raised private capital.

Carlyle, which owns Hawaiian Telcom, plans to list the fund on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.

The Washington-based firm is following several other private-equity groups in entering the public market.

Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts Co. offered shares in a real estate fund it manages in 2005, while Blackstone Group LP said in March that it will seek to raise $4 billion in an IPO of the private equity firm itself. Fortress Investment Group LLC was the first private equity firm to go public, raising $643.3 million in an IPO.

Typically, private-equity funds return to investors the capital they put in, plus profits, after a preset period of time. However, by selling shares in the funds, these firms are able to manage the capital indefinitely.

The Carlyle Group currently manages $56 billion in 48 different funds, according to its Web site, investing in everything from aerospace and defense to energy and infrastructure. Carlyle spokeswoman Michelle Ong declined to comment on the fund plan, which Business Week reported yesterday on its Web site.

The Carlyle Group bought Verizon Hawaii for $1.6 billion in May 2005 and later renamed the company Hawaiian Telcom. The back-office transition was completed in March 2006.