.svg) | |
_(30_Hudson_Yards).jpg) Headquarters at30 Hudson Yards | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services: Private equity (1976–present) Investment banking (2004–present) |
| Founded | 1976; 49 years ago (1976) (as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | 30 Hudson Yards New York City, U.S. |
Number of locations | 20 offices in 16 countries (2010)[1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
| Revenue |  US$21.88 billion (2024) |
 US$3.076 billion (2024) | |
| AUM | US$637.6 billion (2024) |
| Total assets | US$360.1 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$23.65 billion (2024) |
Number of employees | 4,834 (2024) |
| Website | kkr |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
KKR & Co. Inc., also known asKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American globalprivate-equity andinvestment company. As of December 31, 2023[update], the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total enterprise value.[3]: 8 Itsassets under management (AUM) and fee paying assets under management (FPAUM) were $553 billion and $446 billion, respectively.[3]: 167
KKR was founded in 1976 byJerome Kohlberg Jr., and cousinsHenry Kravis andGeorge R. Roberts, all of whom had previously worked together atBear Stearns, where they completed some of the earliestleveraged buyout transactions. 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.[4][5]
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),[6] with trading commencing four months later, on July 15, 2010.
The firm employed 4,490 employees as of December 31, 2023.[7] 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,Sydney andTokyo.[1]
In a 2016 interview with Bloomberg, founder Henry Kravis described KKR in terms of three broad buckets: private markets, public markets, and capital markets.[9]
| History of private equity and venture capital |
|---|
.jpg) |
| Early history |
| (origins of modernprivate equity) |
| The 1980s |
| (leveraged buyout boom) |
| The 1990s |
| (leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble) |
| The 2000s |
| (dot-com bubble to thecredit crunch) |
| The 2010s |
| (expansion) |
| The 2020s |
| (COVID-19 recession) |
While running the corporate finance department forBear Stearns in the 1960s and 1970s,Jerome Kohlberg, and laterHenry Kravis andGeorge Roberts, completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments.[10] 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.[11][12]
In 1964, Lewis Cullman acquired and then soldOrkin Exterminating Company in what some call the first significantleveraged buyout transaction.[13][14] In the following years the threeBear Stearns 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.[12] Despite a number of highly successful investments, the $27 million investment in Cobblers ended in bankruptcy.[15][16]
By 1976, tensions had built up betweenBear Stearns and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.[17] Most notably, Bear Stearns executiveCy Lewis had rejected repeated proposals to form a dedicated investment fund within Bear Stearns.[18] The name had been planned to be Kohlberg Roberts Kravis, but public relations advisors preferred the sound of KKR.[19]
The new KKR completed its first buyout, of manufacturer A.J. Industries, in 1976.[20] KKR raised capital from a small group of investors including the Hillman Company andFirst Chicago Bank.[21][22] By 1978, with the revision of theERISA regulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with over $30 million of investor commitments.[23] In 1981, KKR expanded its investor base after theOregon State Treasury's public pension fund invested in KKR's acquisition of retailerFred Meyer, Inc. Oregon State remains an active investor in KKR funds.[24][25]
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 bumpers and torsional viscous dampers, which they signed the previous year.[26] 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.[27]
The firm's acquisitions during the1980s buyout boom include:
| 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. | [28] |
| 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. | [29] |
| Beatrice Companies | 1985 | KKR sponsored the $6.1 billionmanagement buyout of Beatrice, which ownedSamsonite andTropicana among other consumer brands. At the time of its closing in 1985, Beatrice was the largest buyout completed. | [30][31] |
| Safeway | 1986 | KKR completed a friendly $5.5 billion buyout of Safeway to help management avoid hostile overtures fromHerbert andRobert Haft ofDart Drug. Safeway was taken public again in 1990. | [32] |
| 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. | [33][34] |
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 buyout ofRJR 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.[35]
In 1988,F. Ross Johnson was the president and CEO ofRJR Nabisco, a leading producer of food and tobacco products, formed in 1985 by the merger ofNabisco Brands andR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In October of that year, Johnson proposed a $17 billion ($75 per share)management buyout of the company with the financial backing of investment bankShearson Lehman Hutton and its parent company,American Express.[36][37]
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.[38][39][40] KKR had the support ofequity co-investments frompension funds and otherinstitutional investors, includingCoca-Cola,Georgia-Pacific andUnited Technologies corporate pension funds, as well as endowments fromMIT,Harvard and theNew York State Common Retirement Fund.[41] However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over the firm's use ofhostile tactics in the buyout of RJR.[42]
KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson andShearson Lehman but was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR.[43][44][45][46] Rival private equity firmForstmann Little & Co. was invited into the process byShearson Lehman but attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium ofGoldman Sachs Capital Partners,Procter & Gamble,Ralston Purina andCastle & Cooke.[47] Ultimately, the Forstmann consortium came apart and did not provide a final bid for RJR.[48]
In November 1988, RJR set guidelines for a final bid submission at the end of the month.[49] 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.[50] 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.[51]
Additionally, many in RJR's board of directors had grown concerned at recent disclosures of Ross Johnson's unprecedented golden parachute deal.[52][53]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?".[54] 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.[55] KKR collected a $75 million fee in the RJR takeover.[56] 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.[57]
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.[58][59][60] 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.[61]
As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR'sDel Monte Foods to a group led byMerrill Lynch. KKR had originally identified a group of divisions that it could sell to reduce debt.[62] Over the coming years, RJR would pursue a number of additional restructurings, equity injections, andpublic 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.[61] KKR's equity contribution as part of the original leveraged buyout of RJR had been only $1.5 billion.[63][64] In mid-December 1990, RJR announced anexchange offer that would swap debt in RJR for a newpublic stock in the company, effectively an unusual means oftaking RJR public again and simultaneously reducing debt on the company.[65]
RJR issued additional stock to the public in March 1991 to reduce debt further, resulting in an upgrade of thecredit rating of RJR's debt fromjunk toinvestment 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.[66][67][68][69] 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.[70]
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 Chemical toApollo Management for $1.2 billion.[71]
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 buildups orrollups. One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was theleveraged buildup ofPrimedia in partnership with former executives ofMacmillan Publishing, which KKR had failed to acquire in 1988.[72] KKR created Primedia's predecessor,K-III Communications,[73] a platform to buy media properties, initially completing the $310 milliondivisional buyout of the book club division ofMacmillan along with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989.[74][75]
During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $650 million acquisition fromNews Corporation in 1991.[76] 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.[77] In 2005, Primedia redeemed KKR'spreferred stock in the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on itscommon stock holdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed.[75]
In 1991, KKR partnered withFleet/Norstar Financial Group in the 1991 acquisition of theBank of New England, from the USFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation.[78] In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest inFleet Bank.[79] KKR completed the 1992 buyout ofAmerican Re Corporation fromAetna[80] as well as a 47% interest inTW Corporation, later known asThe Flagstar Companies and owner ofDenny's in 1992.[81] Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s includedWorld Color Press (1993–95),[82]RELTEC Corporation (1995) andBruno's (1995).[83]
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.[84] However, KKR was still burdened by the performance of the RJR investment and repeated obituaries in the media.[85] KKR was required by its investors to reduce the fees it charged and to calculate itscarried interest based on the total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals).[61]
KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments includingSpalding Holdings Corporation andEvenflo (1996),[86]Newsquest (1996),[87]KinderCare Learning Centers (1997),[88]Amphenol Corporation (1997),[89]Randalls Food Markets (1997),[90][91]The Boyds Collection (1998),[92]MedCath Corporation (1998),[93]Willis Group Holdings (1998),[94]Smiths Group (1999), andWincor Nixdorf (1999).[95]
KKR's largest investment of the 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR andHicks, Muse, Tate & Furst agreed to the $1.5 billion buyouts ofRegal Entertainment Group.[96] KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal withAct III Cinemas, which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $706 million[97] andUnited 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.[98] 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.[99]
At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms was changing. Several large and storied firms, includingHicks Muse Tate & Furst andForstmann Little & Company were 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,Flagstar andRentPath (previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group,Wise Foods, Inc.,Wincor Nixdorf andMTU Aero Engines, among others.[61]
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 Mart andBell Canada Yellow Pages.[61][101] KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings.[100] The directories business would be taken public in 2004 asYellow Pages Income Fund, a Canadianincome trust.[102]
In 2004 aconsortium comprising KKR,Bain Capital and real estate development companyVornado Realty Trust announced the $6.6 billion acquisition ofToys "R" Us, the toy retailer. A month earlier,Cerberus Capital Management made a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses.[103] The Toys "R" Us buyout was one of the largest in several years.[104] 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.[105]
In 2005, KKR was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout ofSunGard in 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 Nabisco in 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 deal 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.[106][107]
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 utilityTXU in 2007 proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of themid-2000s buyout boom and the largest buyout completed to date.[108] 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 Lynch and 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. | [109] |
| NXP Semiconductors | 2006 | In August 2006, aconsortium of KKR,Silver Lake Partners andAlpInvest Partners acquired a controlling 80.1% share of semiconductors unit ofPhilips for €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamedNXP Semiconductors. | [110] |
| TDC A/S | 2006 | The Danish phone company was acquired by KKR,Apax Partners,Providence Equity Partners andPermira for €12.2 billion ($15.3 billion), which at the time made it the second largest European buyout in history. | [111][112] |
| Dollar General | 2007 | KKR completed a buyout of the chain of discount stores operating in the U.S. | [113] |
| 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 Partners andWellcome Trust. The buyout came only a year after the merger of Boots Group plc (Boots the Chemist), and Alliance UniChem plc. | [114][115] |
| Biomet | 2007 | Blackstone Group, KKR,TPG Capital andGoldman Sachs acquired the medical devices company for $11.6 billion. | [116] |
| First Data | 2007 | KKR andTPG Capital completed the $29 billion buyout of the credit and debit card payment processor and former parent ofWestern Union. Michael Capellas, previously the CEO ofMCI Communications andCompaq was named CEO of the privately held company. | [117][118] |
| TXU (Energy Future Holdings) | 2007 | An investor group led by KKR andTPG Capital and together withGoldman Sachs completed the $44.37 billion[119] buyout of the regulated utility and power producer. The investor group had to work closely withERCOT regulators 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 ofBCE failed to close in December 2008. The deal was notable for a drastic change inenvironmental policy for the energy giant, in terms of itscarbon emissions fromcoal power plants and fundingalternative energy. | [120][121] |
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 Network of Australia.[122] On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $700 million through aPIPE investment inSun Microsystems.[123] In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $1.25 billionPIPE investment inLegg Mason through aconvertible preferred stock offering.[124]
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.[125] 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.[126]
In 2007, KKR filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission[127] to raise $1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company.[128] The filing came less than two weeks after theinitial public offering of 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 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.[129]
The following year, in July 2008, KKR announced a new plan to list its shares. The plan called for KKR to complete areverse takeover of its listed affiliateKKR Private Equity Investors in exchange for a 21% interest in the firm.[130] 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 the2008 financial crisis. KKR announced that it expected to close the transaction in 2009.[131] In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on theEuronext exchange, replacing KPE, and anticipated a listing on theNew York Stock Exchange in 2010. The public entity represented a 30% interest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
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.[132] 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.[133]
In 2012, KKR made its first retail real-estate investment inYorktown Center in Illinois.[134]
In March 2013, KKR exited its joint venture in music companyBMG Rights Management, selling its 51% stake toBertelsmann.[135]
In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, andHellman & Friedman.[136] 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,Italy andSouth Africa.[137] 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.[138] In September 2014, the firm invested $90 million in lighting and electrics firmSavant Systems.[139] 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.[140][141]
In January 2015, KKR confirmed its purchase of the British rail ticket websitethetrainline.com, previously owned by Exponent. The purchase sum was not disclosed.[142] 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.[143]
In 2016, KKR purchased two Hispanic grocery chains, Northern CaliforniaMi Pueblo andOntario, California–based Cardenas. In February 2016, KKR invested $75 million in commercial real estate lender A10 Capital.[144] On September 1, 2016, KKR announced that it had acquiredEpicor Software Corporation, an American software company.[145] In October 2016, it was reported that KKR invested $250 million in OVH to be used for further international expansion.[146] This funding round valuedOVH at over $1 billion, making it aunicorn. In December 2016, theLonza Group announced it would acquireCapsugel for $5.5 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.[147]
In February 2017, KKR was reported to be trying to take over the international market research company ARIGfK SE.[148] In July 2017, KKR acquiredWebMD Health Corp for $2.8 billion[149] and, the following month, it acquiredPharMerica for $1.4 billion including debt,[150]Pepper Group for $518 million,[151] Covenant Surgical Partners,[152] and Envision Healthcare Corporation's ambulance business (American Medical Response, Inc. (AMR)) for $2.4 billion.[153] 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.[154][155][156]
During 2017, KKR purchased an 80 percent stake in Dixon Hospitality Group forA$190 million 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.[157][158]
In mid-July 2018, KKR purchasedRBMedia, one of the largest independent publishers and distributors ofaudiobooks.[159] 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.[160] 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.[161]
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.[162] Later that month, KKR acquired German film distributor Universum Film GmbH.[163] In April 2019, KKR acquired German film production companyWiedemann & Berg Film Production with the latter company's television arm W&B Television remained a separate entity.[164] Two months later in July 2019, KKR acquired the Canadian software companyCorel.[165] In August 2019, KKR acquiredArnott's, the Australian snack unit ofCampbell Soup Company, for $2.2 billion.[166] Later that month, KKR became the biggest shareholder of German media groupAxel Springer, paying $3.2 billion for a 43.54% stake.[167] In August 2019, KKR also acquired a majority stake in Germanpayment service provider to the e-commerce industry Heidelpay fromAnaCap Financial Partners for more than €600 million.[168][169]
In December 2019, KKR, together withAlberta Investment Management Corporation, acquired a 65% stake in the controversialCoastal GasLink Pipeline project fromTC Energy.[170] 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.[171]
In the final days of 2019, KKR announced it would acquireOverDrive, Inc., a major distributor ofeBooks to libraries.[172] The potential for consolidation with KKR subsidiaryRBMedia was quickly noted in the library and publishing industry;[173] the acquisition was finalized in June 2020.[174]
In March 2020, KKR announced the acquisition ofViridor fromPennon Group for £4.2 billion.[175]
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.[176] 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.[177] 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.[178] Despite theCOVID-19 pandemic, the company reported a profit of $16 billion in the Q2 for 2020.[179]
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.[180][181][182]
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 & Rice is set to buy the branch in a deal worth $4.7 billion. The acquisition was one of the largest purchases of 2020.[183] In September 2020, KKR announced an investment of $755 million in the retail arm of India-based Reliance Industries Ltd.[184]
In November 2020, KKR teamed up withRakuten to acquire 85% ofSeiyu, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned byWalmart.[185]
In January 2021, KKR acquired a majority stake in the catalogue of American musicianRyan Tedder, including his bandOneRepublic and the songs that he composed for other artists since 2016.[186]
In November 2021, KKR disposed of Audiobooks.com to streaming company Storytel for $135 million;[187] later that same month, KKR andGlobal Infrastructure Partners announced they would acquireCyrusOne for $15 billion.[188]
In February 2022, it was reported byBloomberg thatSaudi Arabian Public Investment Fund had purchased just over a 5% stake inCapcom andNexon, reportedly worth US$883 million, while KKR acquired 8.5% of Nexon, the Japanese-South Korean video game company.[189][190]
In April 2022, KKR announced the signing of an agreement to purchaseBarracuda Networks fromThoma Bravo, which closed in August that year;[191][192] later that same month, KKR announced it had acquired all shares of Mitsubishi UBS Realty, a Japanese real estate asset manager.[193]
In May 2022, KKR led about $200 million investment round in Semperis, a cybersecurity company focused on identity protection.[194]
In June 2022, it was announced that KKR would sell Cardenas to funds affiliated withApollo Global Management for an undisclosed amount.[195]
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.[196][197] KKR slipped back to second place in 2023 and 2024, before regaining top spot in the 2025 list.[198]
In July 2022, the company acquired a 25 per cent minority stake inNorthumbrian Water Group, a UK water utility company, fromCK Infrastructure Holdings for approximately £870 million.[199]
In October 2022, KKR acquiredISO tank services providerBoasso Global fromApax Partners.[200][201]
In April 2023, KKR was reported to be in talks to buy a stake in PR firmFGS Global.[202] 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.[203][204]
In August 2023, KKR agreed to buySimon & Schuster, aBig Five publisher, fromParamount Global in an all-cash deal worth $1.6 billion. Simon & Schuster employees would receive anownership stake in the company on completion of the acquisition.[205] The acquisition was completed on October 30, 2023.[206] In August 2023, it was reported that KKR would sell its controlling stakes inAustralian Venue Co. toPAG for aboutA$1.4 billion.[207][208]
In October 2023, KKR secured a minority stake in Catalio Capital Management, a firm specializing in the management ofventure capital and medical investment funds.[209]
In November 2023, KKR acquired Potter Global Technologies from Gryphon Investors.[citation needed]
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.[210]
On 26 February 2024 KKR announced that it would purchase the End-User Computing (EUC) division of VMware, which had recently been acquired byBroadcom, in a deal worth $3.8bn.[211] The division, renamedOmnissa, includes the VDI productHorizon and the device management suiteWorkspace ONE UEM (formerlyAirWatch).
In March 2024, it was announced that KKR had acquired a majority stake in the US-basedsolar energy andenergy storage developerAvantus for an undisclosed amount.[212]
In April 2024, KKR acquired Indian company Healthium MedTech in an $839 million deal.[213]
In June 2024, KKR retained second spot inPrivate Equity International's 2024 PEI 300 ranking, behindBlackstone in first place.[214] KKR is expected to join theS&P 500 index in June 2024.[215]
In June 2024 also, the acquisition of UK-basedSuperstruct Entertainment was announced, fromProvidence Equity Partners, owner of European music festivals likeWacken Open Air (Germany),Boardmasters (UK) andZwarte Cross (The Netherlands).[216] Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the deal valued the group at around €1.3bn, according to sources familiar with the matter.[217] The news caused some uproar among artists.[218]
On 23 November 2024,Sky News reported thatCVC Capital Partners,TF1,RedBird Capital Partners,All3Media,Mediawan and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had been linked to a potential takeover bid forITV plc and a possible break-up of core assets such asITV Studios andITVX.[219]
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.[220]
On 17 February 2025, British healthcare property developer Assura rejected a $2 billion takeover bid from KKR and pension fund Universities Superannuation Scheme.[221]
On 19 February 2025, the company submitted a £4 billion equity bid to acquire a majority stake inThames Water.[222] On 31 March 2025, KKR was given the company's preferred bidder status, which means its bid moves to the next stage.[223] Its deal will be subject to regulatory approval.[223] However, on 3 June 2025, KKR pulled out of the deal.[224]
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.[225]
In April 2025, KKR, along withStonepeak, had its £1.6 billion bid forAssura plc, a UK-listed real estate company, accepted by the company's board.[226] The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and is expected to complete in autumn 2025.[226]
In April 2025, KKR agreed to acquire OSTTRA, a joint venture ofS&P Global andCME Group, for $3.1 billion. OSTTRA provides post-trade services across interest rate, foreign exchange, equity and credit markets.[227]
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.[228]
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 companies which were both harming local communities and destroying the environment.[229][230]
KKR being the largest stakeholder in the conglomerate that offers housing spaces in territories belonging to theState of Palestine, investor in Israelicybersecurity companies, weapons manufacturers and companies that are dedicated to purchasing data.[citation needed] KKR is a major investor inAxel Springer, which owns Yad2, an Israeli classified ad site, which runs ads for developments in the occupied territories.[231]
With the purchase ofSuperstruct Entertainment in June 2024 for 1.3 billion euros, it became one of the main leisure and show providers in the world.[232][233] When that became known, it caused controversy and aboycott campaign, especially among music festivals such asSónar festival,Field Day, Viña Rock,Resurrection Fest,O Son do Camiño, Monegros Desert Festival, Arenal Sound Festival, Granada Sound,FIB, etc and also among known event broadcasters likeBoiler Room.[231][234][235]
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,[231] 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.[234][236] 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 theBDS movement until international law andhuman rights are respected [by Israel].[237]
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.[238] In 1987, Kohlberg left KKR to found a new private equity firm,Kohlberg & Company, which resumed the investment style that Kohlberg had practiced atBear Stearns and in KKR's earlier years, acquiring smaller,middle-market companies.[61][239][240]
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.[241] 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.[242] KKR remains tightly controlled by Kravis and Roberts. The issue of succession has remained an important consideration for KKR's future.
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