KKR shelves US listing for now
PRIVATE equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) said yesterday it plans to merge into its Amsterdam-listed fund, which will remain listed on the Euronext exchange, as it kept the door open for a proposed listing in New York.
KKR’s plans to follow in rival Blackstone’s footsteps and become a publicly traded, NYSE-listed company were originally launched in July 2007, just before the markets started to tumble.
KKR, one of the world’s most powerful private equity firms, had planned a traditional initial public offering. But it later proposed to combine with its Amsterdam fund, KKR Private Equity Investors (KPE), delist from Amsterdam and list in New York.
Under the deal proposed yesterday, KKR plans to keep the Amsterdam fund listing, changing previous plans to delist it.
It retreated from definite plans to list in New York, but kept the door open for such a move, saying it had the ability to seek a listing in the future. The firm formally withdrew its previously filed initial public offering plans.
A source close to the company said KKR remains very eager to pursue the NYSE listing. The source said the new proposal gives it more freedom to choose the timing.
Under the new proposal, KKR would buy the assets of KPE and the fund would remain listed in Amsterdam. KPE would own 30 percent of the combined business.