KKR IPO… Private Equity’s Return

KKR & CO. L.P. is back.  At least its IPO ambitions are.  Long live private equity! Long Live leveraged buyouts!  At least that is what the company wants you to think.  KKR plans to sell up to 204,902,226 shares worth more than $2.2 billion in its common equity units in an underwritten initial public offering.

On a fully diluted basis, KKR has 683,007,420 common units outstanding and will trade on the NYSE under the “KKR” ticker.

If you can believe it after the crash, 2009 was a record year in total assets under management.  2009 saw $52.2 billion in total assets under management, $38.8 billion of which was private equity under management.  After breaking out the public and private markets separately, both were a record in 2009.

On October 1, 2009, it completed the acquisition of the assets and liabilities of KKR Guernsey and completed a series of transactions where the business of KKR was reorganized into a holding company structure.

You can expect more to follow.  If history is a yardstick, KKR will probably go for an expedited time frame here.  This private equity giant tried to come public in 2007 at the peak of the private equity craze.  We won’t bother telling you what happened as far as ‘market conditions’ are concerned.

JON C. OGG