KKR to go Public
WSJ is reporting KKR is going to go public. Poor timing as public investors in both Fortress (FIG) and Och-Ziff (OZM) have taken a bath. The only people that got rich in the process were the insiders who got paid large cash distributions before going public. I guess that is the whole point.
Update: The valuation according to people familiar with the matter will be $12-$15 billion. The firm has an annual return of 26% in the last 32 years. It’s pretty likely the next few yaers aren’t going to be anywhere near those numbers.
Update2: From Bloomberg, KKR forecasts $1.2 billion in profits in 2009. 10-12Xs earnings would be the $12-15 billion valuation. As of June 30th, 2008, KKR managed $60.8 billion in assets. Blackstone managed $113.5 billion and Carlyle $81 billion. The KKR Millenium Fund which finished raising funds in 2002 has had a 41% annual return since then. KKR funds have averaged 29% return to investors.