Private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) is to raise $1.25 billion in a share offering, less than two weeks after rival Blackstone went public.
KKR said last night it had filed an initial public offering registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and would list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
KKR, formed in 1976 by legendary investors Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, remains controlled by the latter two. It has been involved in deals involving companies worth $279 billion since it began. As of March 31 it held equity investments worth $76 billion.
Kravis and the company are best known for the $25 billion leveraged buy-out of RJR Nabisco in 1988, which featured in the book 'Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco', about the fierce Wall Street bidding war over the company.
