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☆ European shares flat as Telecom Italia drags eurozone stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) was flat after opening marginally higher. That also boosted oil prices, lifting European energy stocks (.SXEP) by 0.3%. The EURO STOXX index (.STOXXE), which houses major companies in the eurozone, dipped 0.1%. Telecom Italia (TIM)(TLIT.MI) shares dropped 3% as a government-sponsored offer rivalling KKR's bid for the former phone monopoly's prized grid failed to materialise over the weekend. The European autos and auto parts sector index (.SXAP) rose 0.6%.

☆ Analysis: Clock ticking for loan market as Libor nears its end
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - It's crunch time for the corporate loan market. "The shot clock is on," said Tal Reback, who leads KKR's global Libor transition efforts. The Libor transition began in 2017 and had been smooth until 2022, when rising interest rates, decades-high inflation, Russia's war on Ukraine and recessionary fears rocked markets. "The new issue market shut down," said Ian Walker, head of legal innovation at financial information provider Covenant Review. Libor was phased out for new contracts at the end of 2021, though most existing U.S. dollar-denominated contracts have until June 30 to switch.

☆ Private equity firm TPG's Q4 earnings drop 26% on lower asset sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - TPG Inc (TPG.O) said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter distributable earnings fell 26% year-on-year as it cashed out fewer investments in its private equity, growth, impact and real estate portfolios. TPG said its net profit from asset sales fell to $95 million in the fourth quarter, down 62% from the $251 million posted a year ago. TPG said its private equity funds appreciated 2.2% in the fourth quarter, its growth funds and impact funds were flat and its real estate funds fell 1.5%. The private equity funds of Blackstone, Carlyle and Apollo appreciated by 3.8%, 1% and 5.4%, respectively, while KKR's private equity funds were flat. TPG ended the fourth quarter with $135 billion in assets under management.

☆ Improving Italian business cushions TIM's profit decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's biggest phone group said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) including lease costs fell 10.6% to 5 billion euros in the 12 months to Dec. 31. That compares with a "low-teens" decrease targeted by TIM and was in line with an average analyst forecast of 4.988 billion euros, according to a company-provided consensus. Total group service revenue rose by 1.3% to 14.6 billion euros, exceeding analysts expectations for a rise of 0.6% and the company's target for a 'low single digit decrease'. Net financial debt stood at 25.4 billion euros as of Dec. 31, up by 3.2 billion euros from the year before. TIM is expected later on Tuesday to issue an update of its business plan for 2023-2025, including new financial targets.

☆ A lot of people 55 and older are exiting the workforce, says KKR's Henry McVey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailA lot of people 55 and older are exiting the workforce, says KKR's Henry McVeyHenry McVey, KKR CIO of balance sheet, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the labor crunch in the U.S. and how companies can fix the problem.

☆ Bank of America reveals the most undervalued stocks on Wall Street, including this motorcycle giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

CNBC Pro combed through top Bank of America research to find the most undervalued stocks on Wall Street. The firm says its base case is that the already "undervalued" stock can re-rate from current levels. In addition, Harley's management team is executing well with electric vehicle motorcycles on the horizon and burgeoning international growth opportunities. The says it sees "asymmetrical upside potential" meaning that when peers in the sector go up, KKR shares could go even higher. Remain Buy for undervalued growth and pipeline with two launches worth 5bn euros peak in 23E.

CDP is seeking to finalise its bid after U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N) last week filed its own offer for the same Telecom Italia (TIM) asset. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters KKR's approach valued the venture at about 20 billion euros ($21.4 billion). Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni repeatedly said her government wants to secure public control of TIM's network. But there is no common ground yet within her administration on how to reach such a goal and it was no clear whether a CDP bid would receive the blessing of the Treasury. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti believes Rome has "multiple options" to put TIM's network under strategic government control, a separate source said, without elaborating.

☆ KKR reports 42% drop in earnings on lower asset sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter after-tax distributable earnings dropped 42% year-on-year, driven by asset sale declines in its private equity portfolio and lower transaction fees in the capital markets division. KKR and other private equity firms struggled to sell assets for top dollar for much of the last year due to market volatility, rising inflation, recession worries and geopolitical tensions. Transaction fees from its capital markets business, which collects lucrative fees for arranging financing for KKR portfolio companies, declined by 55% to $144.4 million. During the quarter, KKR said its private equity portfolio was flat in value, while opportunistic real estate funds depreciated by 8%. By contrast, Blackstone Inc (BX.N) had reported that its opportunistic and core real estate funds depreciated by 2% and 1.5%, respectively, while its corporate private equity funds gained 3.8%.

☆ KKR to buy S&P Global's engineering solutions unit for $975 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Private equity giant KKR & Co (KKR.N) will buy S&P Global's (SPGI.N) engineering solutions business for $975 million, the financial services provider said on Tuesday. The move comes months after S&P Global said it would sell the unit, which serves more than 6,000 customers in the aerospace, defense, energy and architecture industries, among others. "The divestiture of Engineering Solutions to KKR allows us to further focus on driving growth in our core businesses," S&P Global Chief Executive Officer Douglas Peterson said. Shares of S&P Global were up marginally in afternoon trade. KKR's financing would come from its North America Fund XIII, which raised $19 billion last year.

☆ KKR's top tech exec details the firm's 3-year migration to the public cloud, and how the PE giant is leveraging the tech to streamline how deals get done
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

KKR is moving its technology and infrastructure to the public cloud by year end. The finish line is in sight for Emilia Sherifova, KKR's top tech exec who is spearheading the firm's multi-year migration to the public cloud. KKR's cloud migration has been years in the making. Under Sherifova, KKR has more than doubled its number of cloud-focused engineers, she said, declining to specify numbers. No longer are regulatory and security concerns barring finance players from moving mission-critical systems, like exchanges' matching engines and banks' core banking platforms, to the public cloud.

"[But] private equity funds still have significant amounts of dry powder, and by the second half of next year, they will be looking to put some of it to work," he said. Private equity firms normally buy companies with a combination of debt and equity. "Ticket sizes across the private credit industry are likely to come down depending on the deal. Banks often highlight debt funds' - or direct lenders - higher prices and more stringent documentation requirements as competitive disadvantages to the syndicated loan and junk bond markets. But some see private credit as part of the solution at a time when money is scarce.

☆ KKR's outlook for 2023: Investors should ‘keep it simple’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailKKR's outlook for 2023: Investors should ‘keep it simple’Henry McVey, CIO of Balance Sheet, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss the firm's outlook for 2023.

☆ Bank of America says these stocks have the most 'potential upside' this holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Analysts at Bank of America named five stocks this week that they say every investor must own heading into 2023. CNBC Pro combed through Bank of America research looking for stocks with major upside potential. Netflix Shares of Netflix are down 46.8% this year, but analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich is standing by the streaming giant. Kroger Kroger shares have gained nearly 2.6% this year, but the stock has a lot more room to run, according to analyst Robert Ohmes. ... We rate Solo Brands' shares Buy as we believe its unique platform strategy should enable its high growth Leisure brands."

☆ PE wants to see some cash flow before it starts making deals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As the markets continue to sour, and a recession looms, everyone's wondering when PE firms will begin scooping up assets. High on Bae's wishlist are "all things digital," he said, with one giant caveat: profitability. There are plenty of companies doing fascinating things in the digital space, but many have yet to reach profitability (*cough* fintechs *cough*). Goldman Sachs is going dumpster diving for crypto companies. Chaos in the crypto markets is creating investing and acquisition opportunities for the bank, according to Matthew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets.

☆ KKR's co-CEO says the firm is looking at investments in 'all things digital,' while avoiding tech companies with lofty valuations and no earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

KKR's co-CEO said on Tuesday that the firm is staying away from unprofitable companies. The private-equity behemoth KKR still has an appetite to invest in tech companies. KKR oversaw $496 billion as of September 30 as one of the largest managers of alternative assets such as private equity, private credit, and real-estate. While it used to be far more heavily weighted toward private equity, KKR's fundraising has increasingly shifted toward other assets like private credit, liquid credit, and real estate, Bae said. Private credit has been a particular focus for alternative money managers like KKR, Blackstone, and Carlyle amid rising rates and big banks' retreats from some lending, Insider previously reported.

☆ Ben Affleck and Matt Damon just scored $100 million from RedBird Capital. Check out 15 more private equity players making big bets on Hollywood.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Private equity firms are investing heavily in film and TV companies, even amid a possible recession. Private equity accounted for 42% of deals over the last year vs. 24% in 2018, according to PwC. RedBird Capital just invested $100 million in Ben Affeck and Matt Damon's new production company, Artists Equity. And earlier that month, Swedish firm EQT invested in UTA, which makes the private equity player the largest outside shareholder of the talent agency. Insider's second annual list of the top private equity players in Hollywood highlights 16 firms, based on our reporting and conversations with investors and insiders.

☆ Insiders detail how Wall Street is preparing for a post-FTX world, from heightened scrutiny on crypto deals to rethinking hiring plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Morgan Chittum | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Most Wall Street firms have executed big crypto and blockchain initiatives. The ties between Wall Street, Main Street, and digital assets have never been tighter. Some traditional firms have chosen crypto custodians to do that for them, while others offer it themselves. Fidelity also has its own digital assets custody offering, and reportedly had plans to continue building out its digital-asset team as recently as late October. 121, which requires most SEC registrants to record the fair value of custodied digital assets as a liability.

☆ KKR is canceling its plans for a big new Manhattan office. It joins Meta, Netflix, and other big firms pulling back on office space.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two senior leasing executives in Los Angeles told Insider that Meta just canceled its plans to expand by 300,000 square feet in the city. KKR's decision comes as New York City's office market flagsTenants who are on the fence about taking space have little incentive to rush to commit to deals as the city's office market continues to soften. Leasing activity in Manhattan totaled 20.27 million square feet through October, according to CBRE, 38% more than the same period last year. Leasing is on track to finish the year well below prepandemic activity in 2018 and 2019, when 32.4 million and 31.6 million square feet were leased respectively in total. Cushman & Wakefield data showed there was over 21 million square feet of sublease space available in Manhattan in September.

A sale of Westbrick would mark an exit from the Canadian oil and gas production business for KKR. KKR has owned Westbrick for a decade, longer than most of its investments, making a sale logical, one of the sources said. KKR invested C$250 million in Westbrick when it was a smaller producer in 2012. Apart from Westbrick, KKR's other investments in Canada include gas processing assets and a stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline under construction. "Anyone who knows me knows that Westbrick has been for sale every day since our existence," he told Reuters via email.

☆ How private-equity firms, rich with investors' cash, plan to capitalize on a souring economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The ultimate winners from the economic downturn may turn out to be private-equity firms. At the same time, private-equity firms are seeing fewer exits and fundraising is slowing. That's the private-equity industry, according to interviews with corporate advisors and a review of earnings transcripts. Regardless of the challenges, however, one positive note for the largest private-equity firms is that they are more diversified today. These relationships are better insulating private-equity firms from economic cycles, she added.

☆ Australia's Nitro Software recommends KKR's Alludo takeover offer of $335 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Australia's Nitro Software (NTO.AX) said on Tuesday its board had determined the near A$500 million ($335 million) offer from KKR Inc's (KKR.N) Alludo to be "superior" to an earlier bid from major shareholder Potentia Capital Management. In late October, the company took on an offer from Alludo at A$2.00 per share, which it said was an 11% premium to tech-focused private equity firm Potentia's offer of A$1.80 per share. read moreNitro in a statement said it has asked its shareholders to back the North-America based Alludo scheme and accept it, on the condition that no new superior offer prevails. The company expects to hold a shareholders meet related to the Alludo offer in March 2023. ($1 = 1.4930 Australian dollars)Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Australia's Nitro Software (NTO.AX) said on Monday it would back a near A$500 million ($320.15 million) offer from KKR Inc's (KKR.N) Alludo that trumps an earlier bid from major shareholder Potentia Capital Management. Shares of Nitro Software rose as much as 19.1% to A$2.06 in morning trade, the highest point since January. In a statement, Nitro said the Alludo offer was fully funded by "equity sources", without identifying the backers. Potentia has built a 19.8% stake in Nitro and declined to comment on the Alludo offer. Last week, ELMO Software (ELO.AX) agreed a $A500 million takeover from Los Angeles-based K1 Investment Management.

☆ EXCLUSIVE KKR raises $6 bln for biggest Asia infrastructure fund -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HOTBED FOR DEALSLike the debut infrastructure fund that made more than a dozen investments, KKR's latest one will target renewables, telecom towers, power, utilities and transportation infrastructure, among others, the sources said. This year alone, funds backed by the likes of KKR, Macquarie, infrastructure investors DigitalBridge (DBRG.N) and Stonepeak have struck deals for tens of thousands of telecom towers in the Philippines. Earlier this month, a top executive at Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's largest asset manager, told Reuters that it plans to add infrastructure assets into its portfolio from 2023. Last year, 19 Asia Pacific-focused infrastructure funds raised a total of $10.3 billion, Preqin data showed. Last month, Neil Arora, a veteran infrastructure dealmaker from Macquarie, joined KKR as the head of its energy transition team for Asia Pacific.

☆ 'Top Gun: Maverick' studio Skydance just scored a $400 million funding led by KKR. Meet 16 private equity players betting big on Hollywood now.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private equity firms are investing more deeply in film and TV content companies, even amid a possible recession. Private equity accounted for 42% of deals over the last year vs. 24% in 2018, according to PwC. KKR just led a $400 million funding round for Skydance, giving the "Top Gun: Maverick" studio a $4 billion valuation. And earlier in July, Swedish firm EQT invested in UTA, which makes the private equity player the largest outside shareholder of the talent agency. And KKR is continuing to make big bets: It just led a $400 million funding round in "Top Gun: Maverick" studio Skydance that sent the production company's valuation north of $4 billion.

☆ Watch CNBC’s full interview with KKR's Henry McVey
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWatch CNBC’s full interview with KKR's Henry McVeyHenry McVey, KKR head of global macro, joins 'Closing Bell: Overtime' to give his bull case for certain sectors of the market.

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