(Reuters) – KKR & Co Inc has raised around $ 18.5 billion for its latest flagship private equity fund in North America, raising its largest fund in less than five months, people familiar with the matter said Monday .
Fundraising was completed quickly by industry standards, as many buyout funds can take a year or more to be collected. It has also happened with limited travel among KKR executives amid the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring investor demand for private equity funds that promise to outperform the booming stock market.
KKR has raised around $ 17 billion for KKR North America Fund XIII from investors including sovereign wealth funds, family offices and public and private pension funds, the sources said. An additional $ 1.5 billion has been committed to the fund by KKR and its employees, the sources added.
The fund has attracted $ 24 billion in commitments from investors, but KKR has decided to scale it down so that it can deploy capital selectively over the next several years, the sources said. The official closing of the fundraiser is expected to take place in the coming weeks, the sources added.
A KKR spokeswoman declined to comment.
The North American fund is larger in size than KKR’s 2006 fund, which so far has been the largest of all time with $ 17.6 billion in capital. He is the first to be bred by Pete Stavros and Nate Taylor as co-heads of KKR’s private equity activities in America.
KKR’s previous regional funds, the $ 13.9 billion KKR Americas XII and the $ 9 billion KKR North America Fund XI, had brought in 1.42 times and 2.08 times their investors’ money, respectively, in September, according to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement website. Fund, one of KKR’s investors.
KKR, which is led by co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, had $ 349 billion in assets under management as of April, including the annuity portfolio and life insurance provider Global Atlantic Financial Group Ltd.
Report by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis
