KKR Going Public
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co announced today that it will go public via a merger with KKR Fund in order to create additional capital. KKR & CO is most famous for taking over RJR Nabisco in what was the largest private equity deal in Wall Street history for some time. I reccomend reading "Barbarians At The Gate" which gives an excellent account of the KKR deal with RJR Nabisco.
According to Bloomberg: "KKR forecasts it will post a profit of about $1.2 billion in 2009, said two people familiar with the transaction. KKR expects investors to value the company at 10 to 12 times earnings, or between $12 billion and $15 billion, said the people, who asked not be named because the information isn't public." The combined company (KKR and KKR Fund) is said will be valued between $15 -$19 billion.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
