KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global

private-equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

and

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total enterprise value. Its

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

(AUM) and fee paying assets under management (FPAUM) were $553 billion and $446 billion, respectively. KKR was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., and cousins

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.George R. Roberts, all of whom had previously worked together at

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

, where they completed some of the earliest

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

transactions. Since its founding, KKR has completed a number of transactions, including the 1989 leveraged buyout of

RJR Nabisco R. J. Reynolds Nabisco, Inc., doing business as RJR Nabisco, was an American conglomerate, selling tobacco and food products, headquartered in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. R. J. Reynolds Nabisco stopped ...

, which was the largest buyout in history to that point, as well as the 2007 buyout of TXU, which is currently the largest buyout completed to date."What's An Aging 'Barbarian' To Do?"
''The New York Times'', August 26, 2001.
''The New York Times'', September 6, 2008. In October 2009, KKR listed shares in the company through KKR & Co., an affiliate that holds 30% of the firm's

ownership equity In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be subject to debts or other liabilities. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned. For example, if someone owns a ...

, with the remainder held by the firm's partners. In March 2010, KKR filed to list its shares on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

(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 at

30 Hudson Yards 30 Hudson Yards (also known during construction as the North Tower) is a supertall skyscraper on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Located near Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Penn Station area, the building is part of ...

, Manhattan, New York, with offices in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Menlo Park,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

.KKR locations
(company Web site); retrieved March 8, 2010.

Senior leadership

* ''Chairmen:''

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.George Roberts (since 1987) * ''Chief Executives:'' Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae (since 2021)

Former leaders

* Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (1976–1987); co-chairmen *

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.George Roberts, and Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (1976–1987); co-CEOs *

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.George 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 for

in the 1960s and 1970s, Jerome Kohlberg, and later

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.George 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 following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 Kravis

In 1964, Lewis Cullman acquired and then sold Orkin Exterminating Company in what some call the first significant

transaction. In the following years the three

bankers 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 between

and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Most notably, Bear Stearns executive Cy Lewis had 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 and First Chicago Bank. By 1978, with the revision of the

ERISA The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (, codified in part at ) is a U.S. federal tax and labor law that establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. It contains rules on the federal income tax ef ...

regulations, 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 the Oregon State Treasury's public pension fund invested in KKR's acquisition of retailer Fred 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 conglomerate Houdaille Industries, a well-known producer of machine tools, industrial pipes, chrome-plated car bumpers and torsional viscous dampers, which they signed the previous year., pp. 149–169. 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 the 1980s buyout boom include:

Buyout of 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 1988

. 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 in '' Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco'', and later made into a television movie starring

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

. In 1988, F. Ross Johnson was the president and CEO of

, a leading producer of food and tobacco products, formed in 1985 by the merger of

Nabisco Brands Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco ...

and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In October of that year, Johnson proposed a $17 billion ($75 per share)

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

of the company with the financial backing of investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton and its parent company,

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

. 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 of equity co-investments from

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

s and other

institutional investor An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked ...

s, including

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...

and

United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...

corporate pension funds, as well as endowments from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and the New York State Common Retirement Fund."Several Giant Pension Funds Investing in Offer for Nabisco"
''The New York Times'', October 31, 1988. However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over the firm's use of hostile tactics in the buyout of RJR. KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson and Shearson Lehman but was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR. Rival private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. was invited into the process by Shearson Lehman but attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium of

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Goldman Sachs Alternatives is the alternative investment arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on private equity, private credit, secondaries, real estate, infrastructure, and growth equity investments globally. The group, which is based in New York ...

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's ...

and Castle & 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. ''Time'' magazine 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 and

Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, and rechargeables; it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 2016. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben a ...

.Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Company History
Funding Universe; retrieved February 16, 2009. As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR's

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods Inc. ( trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company and subsidiary of NutriAsia, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributor ...

to a group led by

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

. 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, and public offerings of stock to 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 an exchange offer that would swap debt in RJR for a new public stock in the company, effectively an unusual means of taking RJR public again 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 the

credit rating A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government). It is the practice of predicting or forecasting the ability of a supposed debtor to pay back the debt or default. The ...

of RJR's debt from junk to investment 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 of Borden, 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 of Borden, Inc., KKR finally sold the last remnants of its 1989 investment. In July 2004, KKR agreed to sell its stock in Borden Chemical to

Apollo Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American Asset Management, asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including ...

for $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 as leveraged buildups or rollups. One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was the leveraged buildup of

Primedia Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 O ...

in partnership with former executives of

Macmillan Publishing Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

, 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 million divisional buyout of the book club division of Macmillan along with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989."As Primedia Falls, Preferred Stock Lives Up to Its Name"
''The New York Times'', October 26, 2005. During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $650 million acquisition from

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

in 1991.Kohlberg, Kravis Rouses Itself
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 29, 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's

preferred stock Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds) is a component of share capital that may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock, including properties of both an equity and a debt ins ...

in the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on its

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other C ...

holdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed. In 1991, KKR partnered with Fleet/Norstar Financial Group in the 1991 acquisition of the Bank of New England, from the US

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...

. In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest in Fleet Bank. KKR completed the 1992 buyout of American Re Corporation from

Aetna Aetna Inc. ( ) is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

as well as a 47% interest in TW Corporation, later known as The Flagstar Companies and owner of

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...

in 1992. Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s included World Color Press (1993–95),

RELTEC Corporation The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an electrical good ...

(1995) and Bruno'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 its

carried interest Carried interest, or carry, in finance, is a share of the profits of an investment paid to the investment manager specifically in alternative investments (private equity and hedge funds). It is a performance fee, rewarding the manager for enhan ...

based on the total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals). Regal Cinemas Imax Theatre

KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments including Spalding Holdings Corporation and Evenflo (1996),

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Limited is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in pr ...

(1996), KinderCare Learning Centers (1997), Amphenol Corporation (1997), Randalls Food Markets (1997), The Boyds Collection (1998), MedCath Corporation (1998),

Willis Group Holdings Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company headquartered in the Willis Building in London. It was the third-largest insurance broker worldwide by revenues. In 2016, the com ...

(1998),

Smiths Group Smiths Group plc is a British, Multinational corporation, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 15,000 staff. Smiths Group is listed on the London Stock Ex ...

(1999), and

Wincor Nixdorf Wincor Nixdorf was a German corporation that provided retail and retail banking hardware, software, and services. Wincor Nixdorf was engaged primarily in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems (such a ...

(1999). KKR's largest investment of the 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst agreed to the $1.5 billion buyouts of

Regal Entertainment Group Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...

. KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal with Act III Cinemas, which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $706 million and United 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 investor

Philip Anschutz Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, travel, movies, theaters, arena ...

2000–2005

At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms was changing. Several large and storied firms, including Hicks Muse Tate & Furst and

Forstmann Little & Company Forstmann, Little & Company was an American private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest private equity firms globally. Ultimately, the firm would suffer fro ...

were dragged down by heavy losses in the bursting of the telecom bubble. Although KKR's track record since RJR Nabisco was mixed, losses on such investments as

, Spalding, Flagstar and

RentPath RentPath Inc. is a media company that owns Rent.com, ApartmentGuide.com, Lovely, and Rentals.com, which combined see 16 million visitors each month. It was previously called K-III and PriMedia. The company was acquired by Redfin in April 2021. ...

(previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group, Wise Foods, Inc.,

and MTU 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, including

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

and Bell Canada Yellow Pages. KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings.Shoppers Drug Mart Sells Shares
Retail Merchandiser, March 17, 2004; retrieved February 16, 2009. The directories business would be taken public in 2004 as Yellow Pages Income Fund, a Canadian

income trust An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. It is especially useful for financial requirements of institutional investors such as pension funds, and for investors such as retired ...

In 2004 a

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

comprising KKR,

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

and real estate development company

Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is an American real estate investment trust formed in Maryland in 1982, with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan. History Two Guys The origins of the ...

announced the $6.6 billion acquisition of

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

, the toy retailer. A month earlier,

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

made 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 of

SunGard SunGard was an American multinational company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, which provided software and services to education, financial services, and public sector organizations. It was formed in 1983, as a spin-off of the computer services di ...

in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. KKR's partners in the acquisition were

Silver Lake Partners Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C., is an American global private equity firm focused on technology and technology-enabled investments. Silver Lake is headquartered in Silicon Valley and New York, and has offices in London, Hong Kong, and ...

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

, Providence Equity Partners, and

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm in ...

. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of

in 1988. SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company until the Blackstone-led buyout of

Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embedde ...

. The SunGard transaction was notable given the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest

club deal A club deal, in finance, refers to a leveraged buyout or other private equity investment that involves two or more private equity firms. It can also be referred as consortium or syndicated investment. Definition In a club deal, the investor group ...

completed 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 utility TXU in 2007 proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of the mid-2000s buyout boom and the largest buyout completed to date. Among the most notable companies acquired by KKR in 2006 and 2007 were the following: Other non-buyout investments completed by KKR during this period included Legg Mason,

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

, Tarkett, Longview Power Plant, and

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

. 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 the

of Australia. On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $700 million through a PIPE investment in

. In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $1.25 billion PIPE investment in Legg Mason through a

convertible preferred stock A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving ex ...

offering. In addition to its successful buyout transactions, KKR was involved in the failed buyout of Harman International Industries (), an upscale audio equipment maker. On April 26, 2007, Harman announced it had entered an agreement to be acquired by KKR and

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. 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 the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

KKR & Co. L.P., Form S-1
Securities And Exchange Commission, July 3, 2007 to raise $1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company. The filing came less than two weeks after the

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

of rival private equity firm

. KKR had previously listed its KPE vehicle in 2006, but for the first time, KKR would offer investors an ownership interest in the management company itself. 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 a

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

of its listed affiliate KKR Private Equity Investors in 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 the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. KKR announced that it expected to close the transaction in 2009. In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on the

Euronext Euronext N.V. (short for European New Exchange Technology) is a European bourse that provides trading and post-trade services for a range of financial instruments. Traded assets include regulated equities, exchange-traded funds (ETF), warrant ...

exchange, replacing KPE, and anticipated a listing on the

in 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 in Yorktown Center in Illinois. In March 2013, KKR exited its joint venture in music company

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

, selling its 51% stake to

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

. In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, and

Hellman & Friedman Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) is an American private equity firm, founded in 1984 by Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman, that makes investments primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments. H&F has focused its efforts ...

. In June 2014, KKR announced it was taking a one-third stake in Spanish energy business

Acciona Energy Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energía, produces 2 ...

, at a cost of €417 million ($567 million). The international renewable energy generation business operates renewable assets, largely

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

s, across 14 countries including the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 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 firm

Savant Systems GE Lighting is a division of Savant Systems Inc. headquartered in Nela Park, East Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The company traces its origins to Thomas Edison's work on lighting in the 19th century. History In 1911, General Electric was found ...

. Also in 2014, KKR acquired commercial landscaping company ValleyCrest from

Michael Dell Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. As of May 2025, accordin ...

's investment firm MSD 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 website thetrainline.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 California Mi Pueblo and

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...

–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 acquired Epicor 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 valued OVH at over $1 billion, making it a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

. In December 2016, the Lonza Group announced it would acquire Capsugel for $5.5 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In February 2017, KKR was reported to be trying to take over the international market research company ARI GfK SE. In July 2017, KKR acquired WebMD Health Corp for $2.8 billion and, the following month, it acquired PharMerica for $1.4 billion including debt, Pepper Group for $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 for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, 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 for in 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 purchased RBMedia, one of the largest independent publishers and distributors of

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s. 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 company Tele München Gruppe. Later that month, KKR acquired German film distributor Universum Film GmbH. In April 2019, KKR acquired German film production company Wiedemann & Berg Film Production with the latter company's television arm W&B Television remained a separate entity. Two months later in July 2019, KKR acquired the Canadian software company

Corel Cascade Parent Limited, doing business as Alludo ( ), is a Canadian software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, specializing in graphics processing. Formerly called the Corel Corporation ( ; from the abbreviation "Cowpland Research Laborat ...

. In August 2019, KKR acquired Arnott's, the Australian snack unit of

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

, for $2.2 billion. Later that month, KKR became the biggest shareholder of German media group

Axel Springer Axel Cäsar Springer (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now Axel Springer SE, the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the West German daily press m ...

, paying $3.2 billion for a 43.54% stake. In August 2019, KKR also acquired a majority stake in German

payment service provider A payment service provider (PSP) is a third-party company that allows businesses to accept electronic payments, such as credit card and debit card payments. PSPs act as intermediaries between those who make payments, i.e. consumers, and those who ...

to the e-commerce industry Heidelpay from AnaCap Financial Partners for more than €600 million. In December 2019, KKR, together with

Alberta Investment Management Corporation Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is a Canadian crown corporation and institutional investor owned by the Government of Alberta, established to manage several public funds and pensions headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. AIMCo was ...

, acquired a 65% stake in the controversial Coastal GasLink Pipeline project from

TC Energy TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...

. The pipeline route crosses the territory of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, which opposes the project. Enforcement of an injunction to build through the Wet'suwet'en territory has sparked widespread protests across Canada.

2020–2024

In the final days of 2019, KKR announced it would acquire OverDrive, Inc., a major distributor of

eBooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

to libraries. The potential for consolidation with KKR subsidiary RBMedia was quickly noted in the library and publishing industry; the acquisition was finalized in June 2020. In March 2020, KKR announced the acquisition of Viridor from Pennon Group for £4.2 billion. In May 2020, KKR announced that it will be investing $750 million in cosmetics producer Coty. 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 company

Jio Platforms Jio Platforms is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational technology company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Established in 2019, it acts as a holding company for India's largest mobile network op ...

. 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 of

royalty-free music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Backgrou ...

, sound effects and video. Despite the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the company reported a profit of $16 billion in the Q2 for 2020. In June 2020, KKR announced an agreement to acquire Roompot Group, a provider of holiday parks in Europe, from French private equity firm PAI Partners. Financial details have not been disclosed but a source familiar with the transaction said it valued the Dutch company at around 1 billion euros. In August 2020, it was reported that KKR was preparing to sell its Epicor Software Corp. branch. On August 31, it was officially confirmed that a group primary represented by private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is 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 with

Rakuten is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around the online retail marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing Fintech, digital content and communi ...

to acquire 85% of Seiyu, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. In January 2021, KKR acquired a majority stake in the catalogue of American musician Ryan Tedder, including his band

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

and 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 and

Global Infrastructure Partners Global Infrastructure Partners, LLC (GIP) is an American infrastructure investment fund making equity and selected debt investments across markets worldwide. GIP's main headquarters are located in New York City and its equity investments are bas ...

announced they would acquire CyrusOne for $15 billion. In February 2022, it was reported by

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

that Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund had purchased just over a 5% stake in

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

and

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...

, 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 purchase Barracuda Networks from

Thoma Bravo Thoma Bravo, LP is an American private equity and growth capital firm based in Chicago, Illinois. It is known for being particularly active in acquiring enterprise software companies and has over $130billion in assets under management . It ...

, 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 with

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capita ...

for an undisclosed amount. In June 2022, KKR rose to the top of

Private Equity International ''Private Equity International'' (PEI) is a global insight, analysis and data provider for the private equity industry, with a core focus on the relationship between investors and fund managers: the LP- GP nexus. Launched in December 2001, the t ...

's PEI 300 ranking for the first time, replacing

Blackstone Inc. Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

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 July 2022, the company acquired a 25 per cent minority stake in Northumbrian Water Group, a UK water utility company, from CK Infrastructure Holdings for approximately £870 million. In October 2022, KKR acquired ISO tank services provider Boasso Global from

Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of March 2024, the firm had raised and adv ...

. In April 2023, KKR was reported to be in talks to buy a stake in PR firm FGS 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 buy

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, a Big Five publisher, from

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

in an all-cash deal worth $1.6 billion. Simon & Schuster employees would receive an ownership stake in 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 in Australian Venue Co. to PAG for about . In October 2023, KKR secured a minority stake in Catalio Capital Management, a firm specializing in the management of

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

and medical investment funds. In November 2023, KKR acquired Potter Global Technologies from Gryphon Investors. In January 2023, KKR invested 700 billion won in 2023 after the first purchase of 400 billion won in private equity bonds by Taeyoung Group holding company TY Holdings. On 26 February 2024 KKR announced that it would purchase the End-User Computing (EUC) divison of VMware, which had recently been acquired by

Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data cen ...

, in a deal worth $3.8bn. The division, renamed Omnissa, includes the VDI product

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

and the device management suite Workspace ONE UEM (formerly AirWatch). In March 2024, it was announced that KKR had acquired a majority stake in the US-based

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

and

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

developer Avantus for an undisclosed amount. In April 2024, KKR acquired Indian company Healthium MedTech in an $839 million deal. In June 2024, KKR retained second spot in

's 2024 PEI 300 ranking, behind Blackstone in first place. KKR is expected to join the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

index in June 2024. In June 2024 also, the acquisition of UK-based

Superstruct Entertainment Superstruct Entertainment is a British live entertainment company and one of the world's largest festival promoters. As of March 2023, the company had acquired over 85 festivals in Australia and Europe, making it the second-largest festival prom ...

was announced, from Providence Equity Partners, owner of European music festivals like

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...

(Germany), Boardmasters (UK) and

Zwarte Cross The Zwarte Cross Festival is the largest paid festival in the Netherlands, and the largest motor event in the world. The 20th edition in 2016 numbered 220,000 visitors, the 26th edition in 2024 did count for 265,500 guests. The festival is a comb ...

(The Netherlands). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the deal valued the group at around €1.3bn, according to sources familiar with the matter. The news caused some uproar among artists. On 23 November 2024,

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

reported that

CVC Capital Partners CVC Capital Partners plc is a Jersey-based private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately €186 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European, ...

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

RedBird Capital Partners RedBird Capital Partners is an American investment management firm founded in 2014 in New York by Gerry Cardinale. The company has assets under management of over $10 billion as of 2022. Investments RedBird is active in several tertiary se ...

All3Media All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film, and digital production and distribution company based in London. The All3Media group consists of more than 50 production and distribution companies and labels from the Uni ...

, Mediawan and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had been linked to a potential takeover bid for

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV (TV network), ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc ...

and a possible break-up of core assets such as

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

and

ITVX ITVX is a British Over-the-top media services, over-the-top and ad-supported Streaming television, streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, Free ...

. On 19 December 2024, KKR extended its tender offer period for Fuji Soft to Jan. 9. as it battles rival U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital for control of the Japanese software maker.

2025–present

On 17 February 2025, British healthcare property developer Assura rejected a $2 billion takeover bid from KKR and pension fund Universities Superannuation Scheme. On 19 February 2025, the company submitted a £4 billion equity bid to acquire a majority stake in

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Limited, trading as Thames Water, is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking w ...

. On 31 March 2025, KKR was given the company's preferred bidder status, which means its bid moves to the next stage. Its deal will be subject to regulatory approval. However, on 3 June 2025, KKR pulled out of the deal. On 4 February 2025 KKR has raised its bid for Japan's Fuji Soft to 9,850 yen per share. They now surpass Bain Capital's December offer of 9,600 yen. This marks the continuation of their fierce bidding war for the $4 billion IT firm. Despite being rejected by the board of Fuji Soft, on their previous bid, KKR now supported by activist investors, has a 33.97% stake, and the competition has driven the share price higher. Bain, backed by Fuji Soft's founding family, has not made a formal offer yet and are waiting for KKR's bid to fail. In April 2025, KKR, along with Stonepeak, had its £1.6 billion bid for Assura plc, a UK-listed real estate company, accepted by the company's board. The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and is expected to complete in autumn 2025. In April 2025, KKR agreed to acquire OSTTRA, a joint venture of

S&P Global S&P Global Inc. (prior to 2016, McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013, The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financia ...

and

CME Group CME Group Inc. is an American financial services company based in Chicago that operates financial derivatives exchanges including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange, and the Commodity Exchange. ...

, for $3.1 billion. OSTTRA provides post-trade services across interest rate, foreign exchange, equity and credit markets. In its first quarter 2025 results, the company reported an adjusted net income of US $1.03 billion, and assets under management rose 15 percent to US $664 billion.

Controversies

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 in fossil fuel companies which were both harming local communities and destroying the environment.

Investment in Israel and the West Bank

KKR being the largest stakeholder in the conglomerate that offers housing spaces in territories belonging to the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, investor in Israeli

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

companies, weapons manufacturers and companies that are dedicated to purchasing data. KKR is a major investor in

, which owns Yad2, an Israeli classified ad site, which runs ads for developments in the occupied territories. With the purchase of

in June 2024 for 1.3 billion euros, it became one of the main leisure and show providers in the world. When that became known, it caused controversy and a boycott campaign, especially among music festivals such as Sónar festival,

Field Day Field day may refer to: * For the armed forces use and its derivatives, see wiktionary:field day * Field day (agriculture), a trade show * Field Day (amateur radio), an annual amateur radio exercise * Field Day (band), a Canadian pop-punk band fro ...

, Viña Rock, Resurrection Fest, O Son do Camiño, Monegros Desert Festival, Arenal Sound Festival, Granada Sound, FIB, etc and also among known event broadcasters like Boiler Room. Regarding Sónar festival, more than 70 artists signed an open letter stating "we oppose any affiliation between the cultural sector and entities complicit in war crimes" and rejected to act, besides, the organization also dissociated itself from KKR's investment activities. Similarly, more than 200 performers signed an open letter urging Field Day festival event organizers to cut ties with the investor firm. Boiler Room also issued a statement following pressure by artists and attendees explaning that they had no say on the acquisition by Superstruct Entertainment and reaffirmed their adherence to the BDS movement until international law and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

are respected y Israel

Partners

Over the years, many of KKR's original partners have departed, the most notable being co-founder Jerome 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 at

and in KKR's earlier years, acquiring smaller,

middle-market companies A middle-market or mid-market company is one that is larger than a small business and smaller than a big business. Different authorities use different metrics to compare company sizes — some look at revenue, others at either asset size or number ...

. Since 1996, general partners of KKR have included

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.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 the

. 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 of

Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational financial technology company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fiserv provides financial technology and services to clients across the financial services sector, incl ...

(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. ''

'' called 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 the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree. * Joseph Bae (born 1972) joined KKR from

in 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 a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. * Alexander Navab (1965 – 2019) joined KKR from

in 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 to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's board of trustees. He was born in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, Iran, but followed his family and became a refugee in Greece following the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. They immigrated to the United States two years later. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Columbia College, Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest instit ...

, and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. In 2016, he was honored with

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

. He died in July 2019 at age 53. * Saul A. Fox left KKR in 1997 to found Fox Paine & Company, a middle market private equity firm with over $1.5 billion of capital under management Anders, George
"Bitter End of a Partnership"
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', September 15, 2007. * Clifton S. Robbins left KKR to join competitor General Atlantic Partners in 2000 and later founded Blue Harbour Group, a private investment firm based in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

.Barbarians at the Gate: Contrasting fortunes for those closest to the deal
eFinancial News, November 3, 2008; retrieved February 16, 2009. * Edward A. Gilhuly and Scott Stuart left KKR in 2004 to launch Sageview 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 his

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

home October 2001. The lover of his estranged, now deceased wife, Generosa, was later convicted. * Paul Hazen, served as chairman and CEO of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

(1995–2001). Hazen later returned to KKR to serve as chairman of Accel-KKR, a joint venture with

Accel Partners Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is a global venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ope ...

, and later as chairman of KKR's publicly listed affiliate, KFN. *

Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick Clive Richard Hollick, Baron Hollick (born 20 May 1945) is a British businessman with media interests, and a supporter of the Labour Party. Early life and career Hollick was born in Southampton, the son of Olive Mary (''née'' Scruton) and ...

, CEO of

United News and Media United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(1996–2005) * Ken Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 as global head of public affairs. *

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...

, selected to serve as chairman of the newly formed KKR Global Institute (2013—present) * Joseph Grundfest, professor at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

and youngest SEC Commissioner *

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, former Prime Minister of Australia.

Publications about KKR

* * * *

Notes

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

* {{Authority control 1976 establishments in New York (state) 2010 initial public offerings American companies established in 1976 Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Financial services companies based in New York City Financial services companies established in 1976 Hedge fund firms in New York City Investment banks in the United States Investment companies based in New York City Mezzanine capital investment firms Private equity firms of the United States Publicly traded companies based in New York City Borden (company)