Beats Electronics LLC, founded by US rapper Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine, said private equity firm Carlyle Group LP has agreed to make a minority investment in the audio technology company.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to publicly discuss financial details of the deal, said Carlyle would invest $500 million in Beats Electronics, valuing it at over $1 billion.
Equity for the investment will come from affiliates of Carlyle Partners V, Carlyle's $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund.
Beats Electronics also said it agreed to buy back the minority stake held by Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp in the company.
HTC bought a 50.1 percent stake in the company in 2011, but sold half of it a year later.
Founded in 2008, Beats Electronics sells branded headphones, earphones and speakers, as well as Beats Audio software technology.