Global asset manager KKR & Co has completed the final close of KKR Asian Fund IV at $15 billion (Rs 1.10 lakh crore), the region's biggest private equity (PE) fund.
Through the fund, KKR will invest about $1.3 billion in capital alongside fund investors through the firm and its employees' commitments.
In January, the investment firm announced the final closings of its inaugural pan-regional infrastructure and real estate funds – the $3.9 billion Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors Fund and $1.7 billion Asia Real Estate Partners Fund.
Before this, KKR had been investing from its global infrastructure fund, for which it raised $7.4 billion in 2018. The next year it hit the halfway mark for its first Asian infrastructure fund.
The latest announcement builds the momentum for KKR’s Asia Pacific platform.
KKR launched its Asia Pacific platform in 2005, which today has over $30 billion in assets under management across strategies including private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and credit.
In Asia, KKR has committed $1.8 billion across six investments as part of the firm’s dedicated Asia-Pacific infrastructure strategy, which was launched in 2019.
The Asia Pacific PE portfolio currently includes investments in approximately 60 companies in 11 countries.
Pandemic-spurred growth in technology is expected to drive M&A activity in Asia this year. Private equity-backed deals in the region rose 51% to a record $129 billion last year, as per a Reuters report.
KKR’s Asia Pacific private equity platform takes a flexible investment approach with the ability to pivot across sectors and markets. Through Asian Fund IV, KKR plans to pursue opportunities stemming from rising consumption and urbanisation trends, as well as corporate carve-outs, spin-offs, and consolidation as companies look to optimise their portfolios, the investment firm said.
This strategy is led by a team of approximately 70 investment professionals based in eight offices across six major Asia Pacific markets.
