KKR raises $8.6 billion for biggest Asia-Pacific infrastructure fund
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Ahead of raising its first fund, KKR has made 14 credit investments totaling US$2.4 billion in the Asia-Pacific since 2019.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BENGALURU/SINGAPORE - Global investment firm KKR & Co said on Jan 31 it had raised US$6.4 billion (S$8.6 billion) for its fund focused on infrastructure- and energy-related investments across the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.
The New York-based KKR said in a statement that the fund was the largest pan-regional infrastructure fund to have been raised for Asia-Pacific.
“As Asia accounts for more than 60 per cent of global growth, driven by rising domestic consumption and productivity, rapid urbanisation and an enormous emerging middle class, the need for new infrastructure and sustainable energy sources will continue to accelerate,” said Mr Hardik Shah, a partner at KKR’s infrastructure team based in Mumbai.
KKR said the fund received strong backing from new and existing global investors, including public and corporate pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowment funds and asset managers.
The fund’s mandate covers sectors including renewables, power and utilities, digital infrastructure, water and wastewater, and transportation, said KKR.
It added that it had already invested or committed more than half of its capital from the fund across some 10 investments.
Among KKR’s recent deal activities are the acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Singtel’s regional data centre business for $1.1 billion, and investment of US$400 million in Malaysian subsea telecommunications cable services provider OMS Group.
KKR and South Korea’s Taeyoung Group are planning to sell their joint venture Ecorbit in a deal that could value the environment company at more than US$2 billion, Reuters reported on Jan 30, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
KKR’s deal activities added to the hectic pace of mergers and acquisitions in the infrastructure and energy space globally in recent years, with soaring demand making the asset class increasingly popular.
On Jan 12, BlackRock announced it would buy Global Infrastructure Partners for US$12.5 billion to expand further in the infrastructure space.
Days later, US private equity firm General Atlantic said it agreed to a deal to buy Britain-based infrastructure investor Actis.
KKR first established its global infrastructure team and strategy in 2008, and now manages around US$56 billion in assets under management across more than 80 infrastructure investments globally.
In Asia-Pacific, KKR has organically grown to about US$13 billion in assets under management since its inception in 2019, said the statement.
In 2021, KKR raised US$3.9 billion in its inaugural Asia-Pacific-dedicated infrastructure fund, KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors, which was the largest Asia dedicated pan-regional fund at the time.
“Infrastructure is a key pillar of KKR’s global and regional strategy,” said Mr David Luboff, co-head of KKR Asia Pacific and head of Asia-Pacific infrastructure at KKR.
United States law firm Debevoise & Plimpton represented KKR as primary fund counsel for the fund raising, according to the statement. REUTERS
