PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

KKR strengthens South East Asia presence with Singapore office

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has opened an office in Singapore. The office, which is KKR’s seventh in Asia Pacific, will serve as the regional hub for Southeast Asia and will be dedicated towards its investment activities throughout the region.

The Singapore office builds upon KKR’s model of marrying market knowledge of experienced local hires with KKR’s global network for the benefit of its investors and portfolio companies. KKR’s Southeast Asia team is led by Ming Lu, member and regional leader of Southeast Asia, and includes directors Kabir Mathur from Singapore and Ridha Wirakusumah from Indonesia.

Henry Kravis, co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO of KKR, says: “Singapore is at the heart of the dynamic growth that is taking place across Southeast Asia. We have invested more than USD1bn in this region since 2005, and Southeast Asia is KKR’s second largest investment destination in Asia after China. But now is the time to establish a permanent presence. This means we will be even more committed to understanding local business environments, their unique challenges and opportunities, and the specific needs of its entrepreneurs, investors, workers and business leaders.”

Boosted by positive population demographics and growing consumer affluence, KKR sees opportunities in Southeast Asia arising from the increase in domestic consumption; the rapid development of the financial services industry; the increasing demand for better and improved infrastructure; opportunities from non-core carve-outs and corporate divestitures as well as divestments from state-owned enterprises; and, increasing growth and generational change opportunities with entrepreneurs.

To date, KKR has invested more than USD1bn in four transactions across Southeast Asia – Avago, MMI and Unisteel, all headquartered in Singapore – and a USD159m investment in Masan Consumer, the largest-ever private equity transaction in Vietnam. In addition, Singapore-listed United Envirotech, a water treatment and recycling solution provider in China, is also a KKR portfolio company.
 

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured