Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. released the preliminary prospectus
for its initial public offering yesterday stating that the company
would seek to raise $1.25 billion and use the proceeds to expand its
business, make additional capital commitments to its funds and for
general corporate purposes. Interestingly, none of KKR's owners appear
to be liquidating their stake, in stark contrast to Blackstone's use of
its IPO proceeds.
The most interesting part of the filing,
however, was a new strategy KKR hinted towards that would end its
dependence on third party capital from investment banks like Goldman
Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The firm has shelled out billions of dollars
to these banks in fees over the years in exchange for help placing more
than $350 billion in debt used to finance its leveraged buyouts.
KKR
is seeking to avoid these fees by constructing its own in-house
syndication desk - similar to the ones that brokerages and banks
maintain. The firm also plans to deploy an in-house proprietary trading
team that would enable it to deploy capital behind the firm's insights
into companies and markets that would have gone unutilized in the past.
The
move will not only allow KKR to hand debt placements on its own (a
great boost to its LBO division) but will also lead to more syndication
fees and trading profits. The new strategy will also enable the firm to
pursue opportunities in any credit market while their $5 billion
publicly trading equity fund gives the firm an unlimited source of
equity funding.
Unlike Blackstone, KKR's IPO is not simply a
liquidation for the company's owners. Rather, KKR appears to be using
the money to setup a new division that will be able to save it billions
of dollars in fees while allowing it to tap into other potential
revenue generating activities. The firm plans to IPO in the fourth
quarter of 2007 under the ticker "KKR" - it's definitely one to watch!