Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

KKR & Co. Inc.,also known asKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.,is an American globalinvestment company.As of December 31, 2023,the firm had completed private equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total enterprise value.Itsassets under management(AUM) and fee paying assets under management (FPAUM) were $553 billion and $446 billion, respectively.

KKR & Co. Inc.

Headquarters at30 Hudson Yards
Company type	Public
Traded as	NYSE:KKR S&P 500component
Industry	Financial services: Private equity (1976–present) Investment banking (2004–present)
Founded	1976(1976)(as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.)
Founders	Henry Kravis George R. Roberts Jerome Kohlberg Jr.
Headquarters	30 Hudson Yards New York City, U.S.
Number of locations	20 offices in 16 countries (2010)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Henry R. Kravis (Co-Executive chairman) George R. Roberts (Co-Executive chairman) Joseph Bae (Co-CEO) Scott Nuttall (Co-CEO)
Products	Management buyouts Leveraged finance Venture capital Growth capital
Revenue	US$14.50 billion(2023)
Net income	US$5.357 billion (2023)
AUM	US$552.8 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$317.3 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$22.86 billion (2023)
Number of employees	approx.4,490 (2023)
Website	kkr.com
Footnotes / references

KKR was founded in 1976 byJerome Kohlberg Jr.,and cousinsHenry KravisandGeorge R. Roberts,all of whom had previously worked together atBear Stearns,where they completed some of the earliestleveraged buyouttransactions. Since its founding, KKR has completed a number of transactions, including the 1989 leveraged buyout ofRJR Nabisco,which was the largest buyout in history to that point, as well as the 2007 buyout ofTXU,which is currently the largest buyout completed to date.

In October 2009, KKR listed shares in the company through KKR & Co., an affiliate that holds 30% of the firm'sownership equity,with the remainder held by the firm's partners. In March 2010, KKR filed to list its shares on theNew York Stock Exchange(NYSE),with trading commencing four months later, on July 15, 2010.

The firm

The firm employed 4,490 employees as of December 31, 2023.KKR is headquartered at30 Hudson Yards,Manhattan, New York, with offices inBeijing,Dubai,Dublin,Houston,Hong Kong,London,Luxembourg,Madrid,Menlo Park,Mumbai,Paris,Riyadh,San Francisco,São Paulo,Seoul,Singapore,Shanghai,SydneyandTokyo.

Senior leadership

• Chairmen:Henry KravisandGeorge Roberts(since 1987)
• Chief Executives:Scott Nuttall andJoseph Bae(since 2021)

Former leaders

• Jerome Kohlberg Jr.(1976–1987); co-chairmen
• Henry Kravis,George Roberts,andJerome Kohlberg Jr.(1976–1987); co-CEOs
• Henry KravisandGeorge Roberts(1987–2021); co-CEOs

Business structure

In a 2016 interview with Bloomberg, founder Henry Kravis described KKR in terms of three broad buckets: private markets, public markets, and capital markets.

History

Founding and early history

While running the corporate finance department forBear Stearnsin the 1960s and 1970s,Jerome Kohlberg,and laterHenry KravisandGeorge Roberts,completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments.They targeted family-owned businesses, many of which had been founded in the years followingWorld War II,that were facing succession issues. Many of these companies lacked a viable exit for their founders because they were too small to be taken public and the founders were reluctant to sell out to competitors.

Henry Kravisspeaking at theWorld Economic Forumin 2009

In 1964, Lewis Cullman acquired and then soldOrkin Exterminating Companyin what some call the first significantleveraged buyouttransaction.In the following years the threeBear Stearnsbankers completed a series of buyouts including Stern Metals (1965), Incom (a division of Rockwood International, 1971), Cobblers Industries (1971), and Boren Clay (1973), as well as Thompson Wire, Eagle Motors and Barrows through their investment in Stern Metals.Despite a number of highly successful investments, the $27 million investment in Cobblers ended in bankruptcy.

By 1976, tensions had built up betweenBear Stearnsand Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.Most notably, Bear Stearns executiveCy Lewishad rejected repeated proposals to form a dedicated investment fund within Bear Stearns.The name had been planned to be Kohlberg Roberts Kravis, but public relations advisors preferred the sound of KKR.

The new KKR completed its first buyout, of manufacturer A.J. Industries, in 1976.KKR raised capital from a small group of investors including the Hillman Company andFirst Chicago Bank.By 1978, with the revision of theERISAregulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with over $30 million of investor commitments.In 1981, KKR expanded its investor base after theOregon State Treasury's public pension fundinvested in KKR's acquisition of retailerFred Meyer, Inc.Oregon State remains an active investor in KKR funds.

In 1979 KKR completed a risky, precedent-setting ($380 million) public-to-private leveraged buyout of a large conglomerateHoudaille Industries,a well-known producer of machine tools, industrial pipes, chrome-platedcar bumpersand torsional viscous dampers, which they signed the previous year.It soon ended in a spectacular failure, breakup of the half-a-century-old company and loss of thousands of jobs, even though creditors earned a profit.

The firm's acquisitions during the1980s buyout boominclude:

Investment	Year Acquired	Description of transaction	Ref.
Malone & Hyde	1984	KKR completed the first buyout of this public company by tender offer, by acquiring the food distributor and supermarket operator together with the company's chairman Joseph R. Hyde III.
Wometco Enterprises	1984	KKR completed the first billion-dollar buyout transaction to acquire the leisure-time company with interests in television, movie theaters, and tourist attractions. The buyout comprised the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares for $842 million and the assumption of $170 million of the company's outstanding debt.
Beatrice Companies	1985	KKR sponsored the $6.1 billionmanagement buyoutof Beatrice, which ownedSamsoniteandTropicanaamong other consumer brands. At the time of its closing in 1985, Beatrice was the largest buyout completed.
Safeway	1986	KKR completed a friendly $5.5 billion buyout of Safeway to help management avoid hostile overtures fromHerbertandRobert HaftofDart Drug.Safeway was taken public again in 1990.
Jim Walter Corp. (laterWalter Industries)	1987	KKR acquired the company for $3.3 billion in early 1988 but faced issues with the buyout almost immediately. Most notably, a subsidiary of Jim Walter Corp (Celotex) faced a large asbestos lawsuit and incurred liabilities that the courts ruled would need to be satisfied by the parent company. In 1989, the holding company which KKR used for the Jim Walter buyout filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Buyout of RJR Nabisco

Main article:RJR Nabisco

At age 61, Kohlberg resigned in 1987 (he later founded his own private equity firm,Kohlberg & Co.), and Henry Kravis succeeded him as senior partner. Under Kravis and Roberts, the firm was responsible for the 1988leveraged buyoutofRJR Nabisco.RJR Nabisco was the largest buyout in history at that time, at $25 billion, and remained the largest buyout for the next 17 years. The deal was chronicled inBarbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco,and later made into a television movie starringJames Garner.

In 1988,F. Ross Johnsonwas the president and CEO ofRJR Nabisco,a leading producer of food and tobacco products, formed in 1985 by the merger ofNabisco BrandsandR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.In October of that year, Johnson proposed a $17 billion ($75 per share)management buyoutof the company with the financial backing of investment bankShearson Lehman Huttonand its parent company,American Express.

Several days later, Kravis, who had originally suggested the idea of the buyout to Johnson, presented a new bid for $20.3 billion ($90 per share) financed with an aggressive debt package.KKR had the support ofequity co-investmentsfrompension fundsand otherinstitutional investors,includingCoca-Cola,Georgia-PacificandUnited Technologiescorporate pension funds, as well as endowments fromMIT,Harvardand theNew York State Common Retirement Fund.However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over the firm's use ofhostile tacticsin the buyout of RJR.

KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson andShearson Lehmanbut was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR.Rival private equity firmForstmann Little & Co.was invited into the process byShearson Lehmanbut attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium ofGoldman Sachs Capital Partners,Procter & Gamble,Ralston PurinaandCastle & Cooke.Ultimately, the Forstmann consortium came apart and did not provide a final bid for RJR.

In November 1988, RJR set guidelines for a final bid submission at the end of the month.The management and Shearson group submitted a final bid of $112, a figure they felt certain would enable them to outflank any response by Kravis and KKR. KKR's final bid of $109, while a lower dollar figure, was ultimately accepted by the board of directors of RJR Nabisco.KKR's offer was guaranteed, whereas the management offer lacked a "reset", meaning that the final share price might have been lower than their stated $112 per share.

Additionally, many in RJR's board of directors had grown concerned at recent disclosures of Ross Johnson's unprecedented golden parachute deal.Timemagazine featured Johnson on the cover of their December 1988 issue along with the headline, "A Game of Greed: This man could pocket $100 million from the largest corporate takeover in history. Has the buyout craze gone too far?".KKR's offer was welcomed by the board, and, to some observers, it appeared that their elevation of the reset issue as a deal-breaker in KKR's favor was little more than an excuse to reject Johnson's higher bid of $112 per share. Johnson received $53 million from the buyout.KKR collected a $75 million fee in the RJR takeover.At $31.1 billion of а transaction value (including assumed debt), RJR Nabisco was, at the time, by far the largest leveraged buyout in history.

Early 1990s: The aftermath of RJR Nabisco

The buyout of RJR Nabisco was completed in April 1989 and KKR would spend the early 1990s repaying the RJR's enormous debt load through a series of asset sales and restructuring transactions.KKR did not complete a single investment in 1990, the first such year since 1982. KKR began to focus primarily on its existing portfolio companies acquired during the buyout boom of the late 1980s. Six of KKR's portfolio companies completed IPOs in 1991, including RJR Nabisco andDuracell.

As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR'sDel Monte Foodsto a group led byMerrill Lynch.KKR had originally identified a group of divisions that it could sell to reduce debt.Over the coming years, RJR would pursue a number of additional restructurings, equity injections, andpublic offerings of stockto provide the company with added financial flexibility. KKR contributed $1.7 billion of new equity into RJR in July 1990 to complete a restructuring of the company's balance sheet.KKR's equity contribution as part of the original leveraged buyout of RJR had been only $1.5 billion.In mid-December 1990, RJR announced anexchange offerthat would swap debt in RJR for a newpublic stockin the company, effectively an unusual means oftaking RJR publicagain and simultaneously reducing debt on the company.

RJR issued additional stock to the public in March 1991 to reduce debt further, resulting in an upgrade of thecredit ratingof RJR's debt fromjunktoinvestment grade.KKR began to reduce its ownership in RJR in 1994, when its stock in RJR was used as part of the consideration for its leveraged buyout ofBorden, Inc.,a producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. The following year, in 1995, KKR would divest itself of its final stake in RJR Nabisco when Borden sold a $638 million block of stock.

While KKR no longer had any ownership of RJR Nabisco by 1995, its original investment would not be fully realized until KKR exited its last investment in 2004. After sixteen years of efforts, including contributing new equity, taking RJR public, asset sales, and exchanging shares of RJR for the ownership ofBorden, Inc.,KKR finally sold the last remnants of its 1989 investment. In July 2004, KKR agreed to sell its stock inBorden ChemicaltoApollo Managementfor $1.2 billion.

Early 1990s: Investments

In the early 1990s, the absence of an active high yield market prompted KKR to change its tactics, avoiding large leveraged buyouts in favor of industry consolidations through what was described asleveraged buildupsorrollups.One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was theleveraged buildupofPrimediain partnership with former executives ofMacmillan Publishing,which KKR had failed to acquire in 1988.KKR created Primedia's predecessor,K-III Communications,a platform to buy media properties, initially completing the $310 milliondivisional buyoutof the book club division ofMacmillanalong with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989.

During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $650 million acquisition fromNews Corporationin 1991.K-III went public, however instead of cashing out, KKR continued to make new investments in the company in 1998, 2000 and 2001 to support acquisition activity.In 2005, Primedia redeemed KKR'spreferred stockin the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on itscommon stockholdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed.

In 1991, KKR partnered withFleet/Norstar Financial Groupin the 1991 acquisition of theBank of New England,from the USFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation.In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest inFleet Bank.KKR completed the 1992 buyout ofAmerican Re CorporationfromAetnaas well as a 47% interest inTW Corporation,later known asThe Flagstar Companiesand owner ofDenny'sin 1992.Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s includedWorld Color Press(1993–95),RELTEC Corporation(1995) andBruno's(1995).

1996–1999

By the mid-1990s, the debt markets were improving and KKR had moved on from the RJR Nabisco buyout. In 1996, KKR was able to complete the bulk of fundraising for what was then a record $6 billion private equity fund, the KKR 1996 Fund.However, KKR was still burdened by the performance of the RJR investment and repeated obituaries in the media.KKR was required by its investors to reduce the fees it charged and to calculate itscarried interestbased on the total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals).

KKR acquiredRegal Cinemasin 1998, only to see the company in bankruptcy by 2000

KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments includingSpalding Holdings CorporationandEvenflo(1996),Newsquest(1996),KinderCare Learning Centers(1997),Amphenol Corporation(1997),Randalls Food Markets(1997),The Boyds Collection(1998),MedCath Corporation(1998),Willis Group Holdings(1998),Smiths Group(1999), andWincor Nixdorf(1999).

KKR's largest investment of the 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR andHicks, Muse, Tate & Furstagreed to the $1.5 billion buyouts ofRegal Entertainment Group.KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal withAct III Cinemas,which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $706 millionandUnited Artists Theaters,which Hicks Muse had agreed to acquire for $840 million in November 1997. Shortly after agreeing to the Regal takeover, the deal with United Artists fell apart, destroying the strategy to eliminate costs by building a larger combined company.Two years later, in 2000, Regal encountered significant financial issues and was forced to file for bankruptcy protection; the company passed to billionaire investorPhilip Anschutz.

2000–2005

Shoppers Drug Mart,the Canadian pharmacy was one of several successful buyouts in the early 2000s

At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms was changing. Several large and storied firms, includingHicks Muse Tate & FurstandForstmann Little & Companywere dragged down by heavy losses in the bursting of thetelecom bubble.Although KKR's track record since RJR Nabisco was mixed, losses on such investments asRegal Entertainment Group,Spalding,FlagstarandRentPath(previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group,Wise Foods, Inc.,Wincor NixdorfandMTU Aero Engines,among others.

Additionally, KKR was one of the few firms that were able to complete large leveraged buyout transactions in the years immediately following the collapse of the Internet bubble, includingShoppers Drug MartandBell Canada Yellow Pages.KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings.The directories business would be taken public in 2004 asYellow Pages Income Fund,a Canadianincome trust.

KKR led a consortium in the buyout ofToys "R" Usin 2004

In 2004 aconsortiumcomprising KKR,Bain Capitaland real estate development companyVornado Realty Trustannounced the $6.6 billion acquisition ofToys "R" Us,the toy retailer. A month earlier,Cerberus Capital Managementmade a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses.The Toys "R" Us buyout was one of the largest in several years.Following this transaction, by the end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts.

In 2005, KKR was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout ofSunGardin a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. KKR's partners in the acquisition wereSilver Lake Partners,Bain Capital,Goldman Sachs Capital Partners,Blackstone Group,Providence Equity Partners,andTPG Capital.This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover ofRJR Nabiscoin 1988. SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company until theBlackstone-led buyout ofFreescale Semiconductor.The SunGard transaction was notable given the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largestclub dealcompleted to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.

Buyout Boom 2006–2007

In 2006, KKR raised a new $17.6 billion fund, the KKR 2006 Fund, with which the firm began executing a series of some of the largest buyouts in history. KKR's $44 billion takeover of Texas-based power utilityTXUin 2007 proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of themid-2000s buyout boomand the largest buyout completed to date.Among the most notable companies acquired by KKR in 2006 and 2007 were the following:

Investment	Year	Company Description	Ref.
HCA	2006	KKR andBain Capital,together withMerrill Lynchand the Frist family (which had founded the company) completed a $31.6 billion acquisition of the hospital company 17 years after it was taken private for the first time in a management buyout. At the time of its announcement, the HCA buyout would be the first of several to set new records for the largest buyout, eclipsing the 1989 buyout ofRJR Nabisco.It was later surpassed by the buyouts ofEQ Office,andTXU.
NXP Semiconductors	2006	In August 2006, aconsortiumof KKR,Silver Lake PartnersandAlpInvest Partnersacquired a controlling 80.1% share of semiconductors unit ofPhilipsfor €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamedNXP Semiconductors.
TDC A/S	2006	The Danish phone company was acquired by KKR,Apax Partners,Providence Equity PartnersandPermirafor €12.2 billion ($15.3 billion), which at the time made it the second largest European buyout in history.
Dollar General	2007	KKR completed a buyout of the chain of discount stores operating in the U.S.
Alliance Boots	2007	KKR andStefano Pessina,the company's deputy chairman and largest shareholder, acquired the UK drug store retailer for £12.4 billion ($24.8 billion) including assumed debt, after increasing their bid more than 40% amidst intense competition fromTerra Firma Capital PartnersandWellcome Trust.The buyout came only a year after the merger of Boots Group plc (Boots the Chemist), and Alliance UniChem plc.
Biomet	2007	Blackstone Group,KKR,TPG CapitalandGoldman Sachsacquired the medical devices company for $11.6 billion.
First Data	2007	KKR andTPG Capitalcompleted the $29 billion buyout of the credit and debit card payment processor and former parent ofWestern Union.Michael Capellas, previously the CEO ofMCI CommunicationsandCompaqwas named CEO of the privately held company.
TXU(Energy Future Holdings)	2007	An investor group led by KKR andTPG Capitaland together withGoldman Sachscompleted the $44.37 billionbuyout of the regulated utility and power producer. The investor group had to work closely withERCOTregulators to gain the approval of the transaction but had significant experience with the regulators from their earlier buyout ofTexas Genco.TXU is the largest buyout in history and retained this distinction when the announced buyout ofBCEfailed to close in December 2008. The deal was notable for a drastic change inenvironmental policyfor the energy giant, in terms of itscarbon emissionsfromcoal power plantsand fundingalternative energy.

Other non-buyout investments completed by KKR during this period includedLegg Mason,Sun Microsystems,Tarkett,Longview Power Plant,andSeven Network.In October 2006, KKR acquired a 50% stake in Tarkett, a France-based distributor of flooring products, in a deal valued at about €1.4 billion ($1.8 billion). On November 20, 2006, KKR announced it would form a A$4 billion partnership with theSeven Networkof Australia.On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $700 million through aPIPE investmentinSun Microsystems.In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $1.25 billionPIPE investmentinLegg Masonthrough aconvertible preferred stockoffering.

In addition to its successful buyout transactions, KKR was involved in the failed buyout ofHarman International Industries(NYSE:HAR),an upscale audio equipment maker. On April 26, 2007, Harman announced it had entered an agreement to be acquired by KKR andGoldman Sachs.In September 2007, KKR and Goldman backed out of the $8 billion buyout of Harman. By the end of the day, Harman's shares had plummeted by more than 24% upon the news.

Initial public offering 2007

In 2007, KKR filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commissionto raise $1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company.The filing came less than two weeks after theinitial public offeringof rival private equity firmBlackstone Group.KKR had previously listed its KPE vehicle in 2006, but for the first time, KKR would offer investors an ownership interest in themanagement companyitself. The onset of the credit crunch and the shutdown of the IPO market dampened the prospects of obtaining a valuation attractive to KKR. The flotation was repeatedly postponed and called off by the end of August.

The following year, in July 2008, KKR announced a new plan to list its shares. The plan called for KKR to complete areverse takeoverof its listed affiliateKKR Private Equity Investorsin exchange for a 21% interest in the firm.In November 2008, KKR announced a delay of this transaction until 2009. Shares of KPE had declined significantly in the second half of 2008 with the onset of thecredit crunch.KKR announced that it expected to close the transaction in 2009.In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on theEuronextexchange, replacing KPE, and anticipated a listing on theNew York Stock Exchangein 2010. The public entity represented a 30% interest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

2010–2019

In December 2011, Samson Investment Company was acquired by a group of private equity investors led by KKR for approximately $7.2 billion and Samson Resources Corporation was formed.With the severe downturn in oil and natural gas prices, in September 2015, the Company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and during its bankruptcy process, sold several large assets.

In 2012, KKR made its first retail real-estate investment inYorktown Centerin Illinois.

In March 2013, KKR exited its joint venture in music companyBMG Rights Management,selling its 51% stake toBertelsmann.

In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, andHellman & Friedman.In June 2014, KKR announced it was taking a one-third stake in Spanish energy businessAcciona Energy,at a cost of €417 million ($567 million). The international renewable energy generation business operates renewable assets, largelywind farms,across 14 countries including theUnited States,ItalyandSouth Africa.In August 2014, KKR announced it was investing $400 million to acquire Fujian Sunner Development, China's largest chicken farmer, which breeds, processes and supplies frozen and fresh chickens to consumers and corporate clients, such as KFC and McDonald's, across China.In September 2014, the firm invested $90 million in lighting and electrics firmSavant Systems.Also in 2014, KKR acquired commercial landscaping company ValleyCrest fromMichael Dell's investment firmMSD Capital,and combined it with landscape company Brickman, which it had owned since 2013, to form BrightView.

In January 2015, KKR confirmed its purchase of the British rail ticket websitethetrainline.com,previously owned by Exponent. The purchase sum was not disclosed.On October 12, 2015, KKR announced that it had entered into definitive agreement with Allianz Capital Partners to acquire their majority stake in Selecta Group, a European vending services operator.

In 2016, KKR purchased two Hispanic grocery chains, Northern CaliforniaMi PuebloandOntario, California–based Cardenas. In February 2016, KKR invested $75 million in commercial real estate lender A10 Capital.On September 1, 2016, KKR announced that it had acquiredEpicor Software Corporation,an American software company.In October 2016, it was reported that KKR invested $250 million in OVH to be used for further international expansion.This funding round valuedOVHat over $1 billion, making it aunicorn.In December 2016, theLonza Groupannounced it would acquireCapsugelfor $5.5 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

In February 2017, KKR was reported to be trying to take over the international market research company ARIGfK SE.In July 2017, KKR acquiredWebMD Health Corpfor $2.8 billionand, the following month, it acquiredPharMericafor $1.4 billion including debt,Pepper Groupfor $518 million,Covenant Surgical Partners,and Envision Healthcare Corporation's ambulance business (American Medical Response, Inc. (AMR)) for $2.4 billion.On July 6, 2017, KKR announced it would merge Northern California Mi Pueblo and Ontario-based Cardenas Market. On September 18, 2017, Toys "R" Us, Inc. filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy,stating the move would give it flexibility to deal with $5 billion in long-term debt, borrow $2 billion so it would be able to pay suppliers for the upcoming holiday season and invest in improving current operations.

During 2017, KKR purchased an 80 percent stake in Dixon Hospitality Group forA$190 millionin 2017 which turned into the company Australian Venue Co. (AVC). AVC is a food and beverage-focused operator in the Australian hospitality industry with a portfolio of 200+ venues.

In mid-July 2018, KKR purchasedRBMedia,one of the largest independent publishers and distributors ofaudiobooks.On July 22, 2018, KKR & Co. announced it was taking over Taipei-based LCY Chemical Corp. in a deal valued at NT$47.8 billion ($1.56 billion US), part of a plan for more transactions involving controlling stakes in the Greater China region.In July 2018, it was announced that KKR sold Gallagher Shopping Park, West Midlands in the UK to South Korean investors, Hana for £175 million.

In February 2019, KKR acquired Brightsprings, and in a May 2022 letter from four United States Senators, Joe Bae and Scott Nutall were asked to explain the substandard care since their acquisition. KKR acquired the German media companyTele München Gruppe.Later that month, KKR acquired German film distributor Universum Film GmbH.In Apri 2019, KKR acquired German film production companyWiedemann & Berg Film Productionwith the latter company's television arm W&B Television remained a separate entity.Two months later in July 2019, KKR acquired the Canadian software companyCorel.In August 2019, KKR acquiredArnott's,the Australian snack unit ofCampbell Soup Company,for $2.2 billion.Later that month, KKR became the biggest shareholder of German media groupAxel Springer,paying $3.2 billion for a 43.54% stake.In August 2019, KKR also acquired a majority stake in Germanpayment service providerto the e-commerce industry Heidelpay fromAnaCap Financial Partnersfor more than €600 million.

In December 2019, KKR, together withAlberta Investment Management Corporation,acquired a 65% stake in the controversialCoastal GasLink Pipelineproject fromTC Energy.The pipeline route crosses the territory of theWet'suwet'en Nation,which opposes the project. Enforcement of an injunction to build through the Wet'suwet'en territory has sparkedwidespread protests across Canada.

Since 2020

In the final days of 2019, KKR announced it would acquireOverDrive, Inc.,a major distributor ofeBooksto libraries.The potential for consolidation with KKR subsidiaryRBMediawas quickly noted in the library and publishing industry;the acquisition was finalized in June 2020.

In May 2020, KKR announced that it will be investing $750 million in cosmetics producerCoty.A separate plan was revealed in which several divisions of Coty are set to be spun out into a new company. According to the deal, KKR will own 60%, while Coty 40% of the new business.The same month, it was announced that KKR is set to make an investment into Indian digital companyJio Platforms.It was reported that KKR was negotiating to buy a $1.5bn stake of a maximum value reach of $65bn for Jio Platforms.In late June 2020, KKR announced it would lead a $48 million funding round for Artlist, a provider ofroyalty-free music,sound effects and video.Despite theCOVID-19 pandemic,the company reported a profit of $16 billion in the Q2 for 2020.

In August 2020, it was reported that KKR was preparing to sell itsEpicor Software Corp.branch. On August 31, it was officially confirmed that a group primary represented by private-equity firmClayton, Dubilier & Riceis set to buy the branch in a deal worth $4.7 billion. The acquisition was one of the largest purchases of 2020.In September 2020, KKR announced an investment of $755 million in the retail arm of India-based Reliance Industries Ltd.

In November 2020, KKR teamed up withRakutento acquire 85% ofSeiyu,the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned byWalmart.

In January 2021, KKR acquired a majority stake in the catalogue of American musicianRyan Tedder,including his bandOneRepublicand the songs that he composed for other artists since 2016.

In November 2021, KKR disposed of Audiobooks.com to streaming company Storytel for $135 million;later that same month, KKR andGlobal Infrastructure Partnersannounced they would acquireCyrusOnefor $15 billion.

In February 2022, it was reported byBloombergthatSaudi Arabian Public Investment Fundhad purchased just over a 5% stake inCapcomandNexon,reportedly worth US$883 million, while KKR acquired 8.5% of Nexon, the Japanese-South Korean video game company.

In April 2022, KKR announced the signing of an agreement to purchaseBarracuda NetworksfromThoma Bravo,which closed in August that year;later that same month, KKR announced it had acquired all shares of Mitsubishi UBS Realty, a Japanese real estate asset manager.

In May 2022, KKR led about $200 million investment round in Semperis, a cybersecurity company focused on identity protection.

In June 2022, it was announced that KKR would sell Cardenas to funds affiliated withApollo Global Managementfor an undisclosed amount.

In June 2022, KKR rose to the top ofPrivate Equity International's PEI 300 ranking for the first time, replacingBlackstone Inc.as the largest private equity firm in the world.However, in the 2023 ranking, KKR fell back to second place, behind Blackstone once more.

In October 2022, KKR acquiredISO tankservices providerBoasso GlobalfromApax Partners.

In April 2023, KKR was reported to be in talks to buy a stake in PR firmFGS Global.On April 11, KKR had agreed to buy a 30% stake in FGS Global that valued the company at about $1.4 billion. As part of the deal, existing investor Golden State Capital would sell its entire stake to KKR.

In August 2023, KKR agreed to buySimon & Schuster,aBig Fivepublisher, fromParamount Globalin an all-cash deal worth $1.6 billion. Simon & Schuster employees would receive anownership stakein the company on completion of the acquisition.The acquisition was completed on October 30, 2023.In August 2023, it was reported that KKR would sell its controlling stakes inAustralian Venue Co.toPAGfor aboutA$1.4 billion.

In October 2023, KKR secured a minority stake in Catalio Capital Management, a firm specializing in the management ofventure capitaland medical investment funds.

In November 2023, KKR acquired Potter Global Technologies from Gryphon Investors.

On 26 February 2024 KKR announced that it would purchase the End-User Computing (EUC) arm of VMware, which had recently been acquired byBroadcom,in a deal worth $3.8bn.This includes the VDI product Horizon and the device management suite Workspace ONE, formerlyAirWatch.

In March 2024, it was announced that KKR had acquired a majority stake in the US-basedsolar energyandenergy storagedeveloperAvantusfor an undisclosed amount.

In April 2024, KKR acquired Indian company Healthium MedTech in an $839 million deal.

In June 2024, KKR retained second spot inPrivate Equity International's2024 PEI 300 ranking, behindBlackstonein first place.KKR is expected to join theS&P 500index in June 2024.

On 23 November 2024,Sky Newsreported thatCVC Capital Partners,TF1,RedBird Capital Partners,All3Media,Mediawanand Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had been linked to a potential takeover bid forITV plcand a possible break-up of core assets such asITV StudiosandITVX.

Fossil industry investment controversy

KKR came under fire after a report, which was part of the Private Equity Climate Risks project, discovered that despite stating that it would be dedicated to pursue a climate action strategy, KKR extensively invested infossil fuel companieswhich were both harming local communities and destroying the environment.

Partners

Over the years, many of KKR's original partners have departed, the most notable being co-founderJerome Kohlberg.After a leave of absence due to illness in 1985, Kohlberg returned to find increasing differences in strategy with his partners, Kravis and Roberts.In 1987, Kohlberg left KKR to found a new private equity firm,Kohlberg & Company,which resumed the investment style that Kohlberg had practiced atBear Stearnsand in KKR's earlier years, acquiring smaller,middle-market companies.

Since 1996, general partners of KKR have includedHenry Kravis,George R. Roberts,Paul Raether, Robert MacDonnell, Jose Gandarillas, Michael Michelson, Saul Fox, James H. Greene, Jr., Michael Tokarz, Clifton S. Robbins, Scott Stuart, Perry Golkin and Edward Gilhuly.Among those who left were Saul Fox,Ted Ammon,Ned Gilhuly, Mike Tokarz and Scott Stuart who had been instrumental in establishing KKR's reputation and track record in the 1980s.KKR remains tightly controlled by Kravis and Roberts. The issue of succession has remained an important consideration for KKR's future.

• Scott C. Nuttall (born 1972) formerly headed KKR's fastest-growing department, the Global Capital and Asset Management Group. He joined KKR in November 1996 after leaving theBlackstone Group.With the support of co-founder George Roberts, Nuttall spearheaded the campaign to transform KKR from a private equity firm into an investment firm after noting lost opportunities amounting to billions of dollars that the company had had to turn down. He also has served on the board ofFiserv(a financial services firm) since it acquired, for $22 billion, in 2019, the KKR-backed First Data Corp.Nuttall was named co-president and co-COO, with Joseph Bae, on July 17, 2017, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm, concentrating on KKR's corporate and real estate credit, capital markets, hedge fund and capital raising businesses together with the firm's corporate development, balance sheet, and strategic growth initiatives.The New York Timescalled Nuttall and Joseph Bae potential successors to the firm's founders.In 2021, he was promoted to co-CEO. He graduated, summa cum laude, from theWharton School of the University of Pennsylvaniawith aBachelor of Sciencedegree.
• Joseph Bae (born 1972) joined KKR fromGoldman Sachsin 1996. Most recently, he was the managing partner of KKR Asia and the global head of KKR's Infrastructure and Energy Real Asset businesses. Mr. Bae has been the architect of KKR's Asian expansion since 2005. He has been named co-president and co-chief operating officer with Scott Nuttall on July 17, 2017, to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm. Bae focuses on KKR's global private equity businesses as well as the Firm's real asset platforms across energy, infrastructure, and real estate private equity. In 2021, he was promoted to co-CEO.He graduated with aBachelor of Artsdegree fromHarvard College.
• Alexander Navab(1965 – 2019) joined KKR fromGoldman Sachsin 1993 and was the former head of Americas Private Equity.After spending 24 years at the firm, he stepped down as part of the Nuttall-Bae transition and would retire.In September 2017, he was elected toColumbia University's board of trustees.He was born inIsfahan,Iran,but followed his family and became a refugee in Greece following theIranian Revolution.They immigrated to the United States two years later. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree fromColumbia College, Columbia University,and anMBAdegree fromHarvard Business School.In 2016, he was honored withEllis Island Medal of Honor.He died in July 2019 at age 53.
• Saul A. Fox left KKR in 1997 to foundFox Paine & Company,amiddle marketprivate equity firm with over $1.5 billion of capital under management
• Clifton S. Robbins left KKR to join competitorGeneral Atlantic Partnersin 2000 and later founded Blue Harbour Group,a private investment firm based inGreenwich, Connecticut.
• Edward A. Gilhuly and Scott Stuart left KKR in 2004 to launchSageview Capital.Prior to this, Gilhuly was the managing partner of KKR's London-based European operations. Stuart had managed KKR's energy and consumer products industry groups.
• Ted Ammon,started several new ventures including Big Flower Press, which printed newspaper circulars, and Chancery Lane Capital, a boutique private equity firm, before being murdered in hisLong Islandhome October 2001. The lover of his estranged, now deceased wife,Generosa,was later convicted.
• Paul Hazen, served as chairman and CEO ofWells Fargo(1995–2001).Hazen later returned to KKR to serve as chairman of Accel-KKR, a joint venture withAccel Partners,and later as chairman of KKR's publicly listed affiliate,KFN.
• Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick,CEO ofUnited News and Media(1996–2005)
• Ken Mehlmanjoined KKR in 2008 as global head of public affairs.
• David Petraeus,selected to serve as chairman of the newly formed KKR Global Institute (2013—present)
• Joseph Grundfest,professor atStanford Law Schooland youngestSEC Commissioner
• Malcolm Turnbull,former Prime Minister of Australia; commenced June 1, 2019.

Publications about KKR

• Anders, George (1992).Merchants of Debt: KKR and the Mortgaging of American Business.New York: BasicBooks.ISBN978-0-465-04522-8.
• Baker, George; Smith, George (1998).The New Financial Capitalists: KKR and the Creation of Corporate Value.New York:Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-64260-6.
• Bartlett, Sarah (1991).The Money Machine: How KKR Manufactured Power & Profits.New York:Warner Books.ISBN978-0-446-51608-2.
• Burrough, Bryan (1990).Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco.New York: Harper & Row.ISBN0-06-016172-8.

References

• FT.com / Industries / Basic industries – "KKR set to buy Masonite for C$3.1bn"
• Gross, Daniel & David Sterling. "Has Henry Kravis gone soft?".Slate,August 5, 2007; retrieved August 7, 2007.
• "The KKR Way".Bloomberg Markets, August 2007
• "The barbarians at the gate have been losing their Midas touch".The Times(London), August 6, 2005; retrieved February 16, 2009.

External links

• Official website
• Business data for KKR & Co. Inc.:
  • Bloomberg
  • Google
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!