June 20 (Reuters) - Private equity fund Carlyle will set up a Mediterranean oil and gas company after acquiring Energean's assets in Egypt, Italy and Croatia, with BP ex-CEO Tony Hayward as chairman.

The deal, announced on Thursday, will see Energean sell those assets to Carlyle for up to $945 million.

"This acquisition provides a strong platform to build a standalone regional champion in the Mediterranean, one of the fastest growing natural gas markets in the world," Hawyard said.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)