KKR & Co - lukrative Beteiligungs- und Privat Equity-Geschäfte für jedermann (Seite 8)

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KKR: Gewinnsteigerung ein bisschen hui, alles andere ziemlich pfui

Der Finanzinvestor KKR & Co. L.P. hat Zahlen für das vierte Quartal und das Gesamtjahr 2015 vorgelegt und konnte seinen Gewinn um 53 Prozent ggü. dem Vorjahreswert steigern. Was eigentlich Freudentaumel auslösen sollte, stimmt Anleger nicht positiv für die KKR-Aktien, die sich weiter im Abwärtstaumel befinden. Und schaut man sich die Zahlen etwas genauer an, erkennt man auch, wieso.

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KKR Puts $500 Million Into Expanding Spanish Solar Acquisition

KKR & Co. invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Spanish solar power plant developer it bought last year and is open to spending more to tap into a renewable-energy revolution that it sees increasingly displacing fossil fuels.

“KKR has committed to grow this platform and today we have about half a billion dollars of equity committed to expand this business," Jesus Olmos, global co-head of infrastructure at KKR, said in an interview in London. "We have our targets, but if we find more opportunities, we will be able to inject the equity and the debt that is needed."

After clearing regulatory hurdles to seal the acquisition of Gestamp Asetym Solar SL, the private-equity firm is rebranding the developer as X-Elio, KKR said Thursday in an e-mailed statement.

The cash injection is a sign of the health of the renewables industry even after a plunge in oil prices recast the fortunes of the biggest energy producers. Clean energy has been boosted in the past two months by a global climate agreement reached in Paris, and by a U.S. decision to extend tax credits to both the wind and solar power industries.

“Eight or nine years ago, investors were not really putting a lot of money into solar PV or renewables in general,” Olmos said. “But now, the world has decided to go for a different model where renewables are going to be important. According to our investment thesis, solar PV and onshore wind are going to be the two winning technologies.”

Renewable Records
The wind industry installed a record 63 gigawatts of new capacity in 2015, according to a report on Wednesday by the Global Wind Energy Council. Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that solar photovoltaic installations may rise to as much as 68 gigawatts this year, from last year’s record of 56 gigawatts.

X-Elio will stay focused on solar power, and plans to increase its installed base to 2.5 gigawatts in 2020 from about 300 megawatts now, with a focus on rich industrial countries and other nations “with a similar risk profile,” Olmos said.

"The biggest market in 2016 and probably 2017 will be Japan,” X-Elio Chief Executive Officer Jorge Barredo said in an interview, alongside Olmos. “It will keep on being a very important market for the next five to six years. Mexico is also increasingly important for us.”

Barredo said the company aims to expand in the U.S. beyond the 24 megawatts of projects it already owns. X-Elio may also buy assets in the U.K., where it is analyzing "three or four big portfolios,” with a target of operating from 60 megawatts to 100 megawatts there, he said. Olmos named Chile, South Africa and Southeast Asia as other possible areas of expansion.

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Entrepreneurial Family Owner Pervan Partners with KKR

The Pervan family partnership with global investment firm KKR aims to further strengthen Välinge's position as a leading industrial R&D company

KKR, a leading global investor, has today announced the signing of three agreements to ultimately acquire a combined 50% stake in Välinge, a Swedish industrial R&D company founded and owned by the Pervan family. Through the agreements, KKR will acquire the two 20% stakes of the current minority owners, Kronospan and Swiss Krono Group, as well as an additional 10% stake from the founder.

The Pervan family is partnering with KKR to further grow Välinge into a world leading R&D and IP provider in its respective business segments, leveraging KKR's financial resources, its international network and its longstanding expertise in the global industrial sector. KKR has an extensive track record of partnering with entrepreneurs and family-owned companies in Europe to deliver growth, international expansion, and value creation including investments in Walgreens Boots Alliance, BMG, WILD, Scout24, SoftwareONE, and Webhelp.

The partnership with KKR will allow Välinge to invest behind new technologies in fast growing areas such as LVT flooring, tool-less furniture assembly, digital micro 3D printing and wood powder technology. The former minority owners, Kronospan and Swiss Krono Group, will remain major licensees of Välinge's technology and have played an important role in commercialising Välinge's earlier technologies related to floor locking.

Välinge draws its roots from the deep Swedish knowledge and expertise in wood technology and the company and its founder have a long track record of developing innovative and disruptive technologies such as laminate flooring, floor locking systems allowing for easy assembly, and the new powder based flooring, Nadura and Woodura. A common thread and guiding principle of all Välinge's innovations is to develop products that are better performing and at a lower cost with a core focus on benefit to the end user. Välinge currently holds around 1,300 patents, and has expanded its IP portfolio significantly over the past five years, with over 12,000 applications in the pipeline today. The company is based in Viken, Sweden, and boasts a state-of-the-art research facility which employs 100 expert employees and researchers. The company has invested over SEK 1,000m in R&D over the last five years.

The company's excellence in innovation has been recognised through a number of high-profile awards. Most recently, in September 2015, Välinge received the 'Export Hermes' award from the Swedish Fund for Export Development, which rewards Swedish companies that have contributed to Sweden's economic prosperity through remarkable export achievements. The award was presented to Välinge by Her Majesty the Crown Princess of Sweden. In June 2015, Välinge won the Schweighofer Prize, a prestigious prize that recognises innovative ideas, technologies, and products in the European wood and forest sector.

Darko Pervan, Founder of Välinge, commented: "KKR's excellent global reputation and its expertise in the technology and industrial sectors made it the perfect choice as partner for our business. This partnership will create a foundation for the company to take the next step in its development, and KKR's international network together with our joint financial resources will allow us to commercialise Välinge's technologies faster and on a much larger scale."

Anders Borg, Head of the Nordic Region at KKR, added: "Over the past 20 years, Darko Pervan has built a leading technology company with a strong track record for innovation, and we are delighted to be partnering with an entrepreneur of his standing. At KKR we have a long history of successful partnerships with founder-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, and we look forward to working with the Pervan family to further develop Välinge into a world leading technology company."

Ignace Gorus, board member at Välinge as a representative for Kronospan, commented: "Kronospan has always been at the forefront of innovation in flooring and will continue as a major customer and licensee to Välinge."

Niclas Håkansson, the Välinge CEO concluded: "We are very excited about the support from KKR, which will help us accelerate the development and global roll-out of new technologies and ultimately benefit our customers and end-users."

The transaction will be funded primarily from KKR's European Fund IV. No financial terms were disclosed.

-Ends-

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages investments across multiple asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation at the asset level. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners' capital and brings opportunities to others through its capital markets business. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Välinge

Välinge is an R&D and IP company with particular strength in wood based technologies and the flooring and furniture industries. Founded in 1993, Välinge pioneered the concept of floating click floors and today, over 1bn m2 of flooring is sold with click systems every year, reducing the time and effort needed for floor installation as well as easing the environmental burden of the hundreds of millions liters of glue used for installations in the past. 2015 License income and EBITDA is expected to be EUR 86 million and EUR 46 million respectively.

The present technology base covers fields related to floor locking, furniture, construction material, surface materials and treatments, production processes and tools, digital printing and ink, and thermoplastic core materials.

Välinge's patent portfolio is one of the most comprehensive industrial patent portfolios in Europe. It comprises more than 1,300 granted patents and a global license base of over 200 licensees. All R&D activities take place in Viken which is considered to be one of the world's most advanced R&D center related to wood flooring and wood-powder technology. Välinge has about 100 employees.

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Haier, Midea und Fosun im Rennen

PE-Investor KKR prüft WMF-Verkauf an Chinesen

Von Desirée Backhaus

Der Küchengerätehersteller WMF könnte schon bald chinesisch werden. Der PE-Investor KKR soll sich in Verkaufsgesprächen mit mehreren chinesischen Interessenten befinden. Auch eine Zerschlagung scheint möglich.


WMF
Wird von chinesischen Investoren umworben: der schwäbische Küchengerätehersteller WMF, der derzeit dem PE-Investor KKR gehört.
Die Verkaufsgerüchte um den Küchengerätehersteller WMF werden konkreter: Der PE-Investor KKR soll mit diversen potentiellen Käufern verhandeln und den Exit bereits für diesen Monat vorbereiten. Das berichtet Mergermarket unter Berufung auf Insider.

Als aussichtsreichste Kandidaten werden demnach zwei chinesische Industriekonzerne gehandelt: Sowohl der Hausgerätekonzern Haier als auch Konkurrent Midea sollen an einer Übernahme von WMF interessiert sein. Haier hatte erst Mitte Januar den Zuschlag für die Hausgerätesparte des US-Konzerns GE erhalten und dabei auch Midea ausgestochen. Die chinesische Firma legte für die Expansion in die USA 5,4 Milliarden Dollar auf den Tisch. Nun könnte Haier auch an einem Ausbau seiner Aktivitäten in Europa interessiert sein.

Auch dem Industriekonzern Midea, der im vergangenen August 5,4 Prozent an dem Roboterhersteller Kuka erworben hatte, wird Interesse an einer Akquisition von WMF nachgesagt. Allerdings sei Midea nur an der Kaffeemaschinensparte des deutschen Unternehmens interessiert, zitiert Mergermarket einen Insider. Mit der WMF-Geschirrsparte gebe es keine Synergien.
Verkauft KKR WMF zu einem Ebitda-Multiple von 12x?

KKR soll allerdings an einem Verkauf von WMF als Ganzes interessiert sein. Der PE-Investor, der sich bei dem Deal von der Deutsche Bank und Citi beraten lässt, hatte 2012 die Mehrheit an dem schwäbischen Mittelständler erworben. Für rund 600 Millionen Euro wechselte WMF damals vom Finanzinvestor Capvis mehrheitlich in den Besitz von KKR.

Eine Sperrminorität von 25,1 Prozent blieb jedoch zunächst im Besitz des österreichischen Unternehmers Andreas Weißenbacher. Erst seit eineinhalb Jahren kann KKR bei WMF durchregieren. Mit einem Stellenabbau und dem Verkauf der Billig-Haushaltsgeräte-Tochter Princess will der Finanzinvestor den Wert von WMF steigern.

Die Strategie trägt offenbar Früchte: WMF könnte jetzt nach Angaben eines Insiders mit 1,5 Milliarden Euro bewertet werden. Bei einem erwarteten Ebitda von 150 Millionen Euro im laufenden Geschäftsjahr 2016 entspräche das einem Multiple von 10x. Eine andere Quelle geht laut Mergermarket gar von einem Ebitda-Multiple von 12x aus.
Deutschland ist beliebtestes M&A-Land der Chinesen

Auch der chinesische Finanzinvestor Fosun soll im M&A-Rennen um WMF sein. Fosun scheiterte zwar kürzlich an der Übernahme der BHF-Bank, der französische Bankier Philippe Oddo stach die Chinesen aus. Dennoch ist Fosun in Deutschland bereits als Investor bekannt, unter anderem als Minderheitsaktionär der Modemarke Tom Tailor. Fosun gab vor drei Wochen bekannt, den 23,16-Prozent-Anteil an Tom Tailor auf bis zu 30 Prozent aufstocken zu wollen. Fosun steht außerdem kurz vor der Komplettübernahme der Privatbank Hauck & Aufhäuser, von der Finanzausicht Bafin ist der Deal aber noch genehmigt.

Sollte WMF tatsächlich chinesisch werden, wäre dies die Fortsetzung einer Reihe von Beteiligungen und Übernahme chinesischer Investoren in Deutschland: Erst kürzlich hatte der chinesische Chemiekonzern ChemChina für 925 Millionen Euro den deutschen Maschinenbauer Krauss Maffei übernommen. Es war zugleich die bisher größte Übernahme, die ein chinesischer Investor bis dato in Deutschland gewagt hat. Und der Staatskonzern soll bereits den nächsten Mega-Deal einfädeln, wie Bloomberg heute unter Berufung auf Insider berichtet: Demnach plate ChemChina umgerechnet knapp 40 Milliarden Euro für den schweizerischen Agrochemie-Konzern Syngenta zu bieten.

Insgesamt 36 Akquisitionen durch Chinesen in Deutschland zählte die WP- und Beratungsgesellschaft EY allein im vergangenen Jahr. Damit ist Deutschland das beliebteste Übernahmeland der Chinesen in Europa. Die meisten Transaktionen waren allerdings eher klein. Mitgeboten haben chinesische Investoren zwar auch bei größeren Deals, so etwa bei der 3,5-Milliarden-Transaktion des Raststättenbetreibers Tank & Rast. Zum Zug kamen sie dabei aber nicht. Mit WMF könnte sich das nun ändern. Es wäre der erste chinesisch-deutsche Milliardendeal am M&A-Markt.

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KKR and Apollo Global higher after positive coverage

Outliers to the upside in private-equity today are KKR (KKR +3.8%) and Apollo Global (APO +3.9%) as Jefferies initiates coverage on three of the battered sector's names.

KKR is started with a Buy and $20 price target - 27% upside to last night's close. Apollo is started with a Buy and $19 PT - 25% upside to last night's close.

The Carlyle Group (CG +0.7%) is initiated with a Hold and $19 price target.

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Bad Burgers Are Gold to KKR as China Scandals Yield Opportunity

China’s continual food safety scares haven’t spoiled the appetite of Julian Wolhardt, one of KKR & Co.’s top executives in the country. In fact, they’ve been good for deals.

He spent more than two years trying to persuade the chairman of China’s largest chicken breeder and processor, Fujian Sunner Development Co., to accept an investment from KKR, arguing that private-equity backing could help the company take market share. Fu Guangming kept saying no, even after the outbreaks of avian flu in 2013 and early 2014 hurt the poultry industry.

Then, in July last year, Wolhardt got a break. News broke that the Chinese supplier to McDonald’s Corp. and Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC had been repackaging old meat as new. Amid the outcry that followed, Wolhardt redoubled his efforts. Fu relented. The next month, KKR agreed to buy a $400 million stake in publicly traded Sunner, its biggest investment in China’s food sector.

More than any other buyout firm, KKR has wagered that China’s recurring food-safety scandals can yield windfalls for an investor willing to shoulder the risk. The New York-based firm has spent about $1 billion on five food-related investments in the world’s second largest economy since 2008, spanning everything from milk to fish feed.

Opportune Time
The aftermath of a food scandal is an opportune time to buy, according to Wolhardt: Owners are more willing to sell and rival companies are often battered by the event.

“If you’re a company, when a market incident happens, you want to work with an investor like us to really take advantage of the market downturn,” Wolhardt, 42, said in an interview last month.

China’s food safety hasn’t kept pace with an economic expansion that’s lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty since free-market reforms began in 1978, fueling demand for everything from poultry to milk and beef. Scandals ranging from babies poisoned by tainted milk powder to dead pigs found floating in a river serve to regularly remind consumers that the produce they eat might not be safe.

Dairy History
Three of the food deals KKR has struck in China track a similar pattern: They were made amid a food scare and followed by an overhaul of supply-chain procedures, along with expansion plans designed to take advantage of competitors’ weakened positions.

"Everyone knows food safety," said David Liu, 45, KKR’s co-head of private equity in Asia. "There’s interest in the sector, but I don’t think people have done as many deals as we have and made the kind of returns we have."

Before joining KKR in 2006, Liu and Wolhardt worked together at Morgan Stanley’s private equity arm. There, they led a $26 million acquisition of Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Co. in 2002 -- the first foreign private-equity investment in China’s dairy industry.

KKR sealed its first food deal in China in September 2008, a $150 million investment in China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd. At about the same time, one of China’s biggest-ever food scandals was breaking. Milk and infant formula containing the chemical melamine killed six babies and sickened an estimated 300,000 more. Parents flocked to Hong Kong in search of safe milk powder.

Farm Expansion
As the scandal engulfed some competitors, KKR moved to boost production. Modern Dairy accelerated expansion of farms, increasing its number of dairy cows by almost eight times to 180,000 in the five years after KKR bought its stake. KKR executives spent 16 months working with Modern Dairy management on everything from improving the feed mix for cows to cutting electricity and water usage, according to Liu.

"The crisis is actually a catalyst, because without the incident, people will never bother to tell good milk versus bad milk," Liu said. "When you had the melamine crisis happen, the biggest benefit to us is people are willing to pay a premium for quality milk."

Modern Dairy went public in 2010 and in 2013, KKR sold most of its stake to China Mengniu Dairy Co. -- earning the firm a roughly 300 percent return on its investment. Another dairy investment, Asia Dairy Holdings, has yielded a 250 percent return in about two years. Sunner shares are trading 71 percent higher than the price KKR bought at.

KKR’s first foray into China’s pork industry followed another food fiasco. In March 2013, more than 10,000 dead pigs were found in Shanghai’s Huangpu river, prompting the local government to increase food-safety checks. Three months later, KKR announced a $150 million investment in a meat-processing unit of Cofco Group.

Risky Business
To control disease, KKR reviewed the key vaccines Cofco was using and put newly added hog farms close to slaughtering facilities to enable tracing of every pig’s origin. It set out to increase the number of pigs born, raised, and sold to market by one single sow to about 50 percent above China’s average.

Huge gaps in the government’s enforcement and inspection capabilities make investing in China’s food sector a risky business, according to Paul O’Brien, an analyst at Hangzhou-based ChemLinked Food, an industry researcher.

“Last year’s meat scandal proved that no investment, regardless of the financial stakes or reputation of the stakeholders involved, is insulated from the threat of scandal," he said.

Success in China’s food industry requires more than investing savvy, according to Wolhardt. When KKR invested in Modern Dairy, he lived at one of its farms during the entire due-diligence period to learn the ropes quickly. Two years before KKR even bought into Sunner, he was discussing with Chairman Fu how to make its chicken feed more digestible. Wolhardt regularly attends the annual World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin, a five-day event showcasing the newest technologies available to the industry.

Then there’s the power of experimenting. Wolhardt said he discovered that jabbing cows with vaccine shots while they’re standing still and milking will stress them and hurt production. Testing the pH value of cow manure and checking whether it contains corn kernels can reveal whether the animals are digesting well. And while reading up, his team came across studies that suggested playing classical music will improve milk yields.

"So we started playing music in our milking parlor to really focus on creating a stress-free environment,” he said. Yields rose, and Wolhardt learned another lesson: “Some cows prefer Mozart.”

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Artikel auf The Market Mogul...


The Story Behind the First Data IPO

First data IPO was finalised on the 14th of October however it was initially filled on the 20th of July. This was the biggest IPO of 2015 till date and is expected to remain as the biggest IPO of the year. This piece will assume the reader has a working knowledge of what an IPO is, in case you don’t this is a brief explanation. An Initial public offering (IPO) is the first sale of private equity to the public, usually this is done by smaller firms looking to raise capital, however in this case first data is a giant in it’s field.

Understanding the reasoning for the IPO timing is linked with understanding the ownership of First Data. First Data is owned by KKR, one of the worlds largest private equity firm. In 2007 KKR purchased first data using an LBO (leverage buyout), this is a technique where one company (KKR) purchases another (First data) financing most (usually 90%) of the purchase through debt/bonds. Collateral for this debt can then be both of these companies’ assets.

First data is KKR’s biggest holding and it’s intention was to leverage the company, use it’s growing revenues to pay back that debt and later sell on the company at a profit. However this LBO occurred in September 2007. Not long after the financial crisis followed, consequently debit and credit card payments declined, cash became hard to come by and more debt was taken on in 2010 and 2011 on high interest rates, however the economy recovery remained extremely slow and First Data financial health did not improve. In fact as of 2013 KKR valued its stake in First Data at just 60¢ on the dollar and the company (First Data) was about to post it’s 6th consecutive annual.

The company
First Data is probably a name the average man is not familiar with, So how does an unknown company become the subject of the biggest IPO of the year one that needed 13 different bookrunners on the deal. Well First data is actually a giant in its field. Whilst it is less popular in the UK first data is one of the biggest firms in the payment services industry. To put that in perspective its 2014 revenue of $11.2 billion compare that to the two most recognisable names in the field MasterCard ($9.5 billion) ($12.7 billion). It’s one of the very few companies to be involved in all 3 areas of the payment services industry.

- With merchant acquiring (the buying and selling of credit card terminals) it’s the largest in the industry.
- With a 6-million-customer base (including MacDonald’s and Wal-Mart) generating a staggering 2,300 a second.
- With Transaction processing it controls 42% of all the card transactions in the United States
- Finally with the debit network it has a growing presence through it’s offshoot subsidiary STAR.

First Data processes the equivalent of 10% of US GDP a day, in one of the fastest growing industry that is not very well understood by the public. From 2009 to 2014, credit card, debit card, and electronic payments surged more than 40% in the U.S., to around $6.5 trillion. By 2018 it is expected that 81¢ of every dollar spent will be through this method as opposed to the 65¢ today.

“More and more businesses that used to take only cash, from taxis to dry cleaners, are switching to cards”.
(Tien-tsin Huang, J.P. Morgan)

Why now?
This can give you an indication as to why there was a lot of investor interest in the company, however this doesn’t explain why the decision to go public was taken now. First Data has $22.6 billion in debt (thanks to the LBO back in 2007), at extremely high interest rates. $10 billion of that debt becomes callable in early 2016 with a weighted average coupon of 10.2%. That means if First data can call back those loans they can renegotiate far more favourable terms. Through the first six months of 2015 First Data’s interest costs have consumed nearly 15% of overall revenue. That expense caused First Data to post a net loss of $138 million on revenue of $5.6 billion.

Scott Nuttall head of KKR’s Global Capital and Asset Management Group was prepared to sell off arms of the company in 2013 in order to salvage the investment, however when he turned to now CEO Frank Bisignano to turn the company around. Bisignano persuaded Nuttall in keeping the company intact.

Bisignano instead decided to modernise existing assets. First data bought start-ups such as Clover to gain economies of scale in technology furthermore in June 2014, KKR led a $3.5 billion capital infusion into the company to help it pay down debt. This IPO would help do the exact same thing.

A success or a failure
The IPO raised $2.8 billion giving the company a market cap of $14 billion. The price of the sale $16.39 per share on class A common stock of about 160,000 shares. Whilst the value of the initial purchase $15.81 a share, The IPO price was fairly reasonable. However the modest return compared to say the S&P 500, which is up 31% since the buyout. However for KKR, which, along with its investors, still owns 60% of the company, the investment has swung from a loss of $2.5 billion to a modest gain.

Time will be the juror on whether or not this IPO was successful in achieving its aim. As of 12/11/15 the share price of First Data has risen to 17.71 and the market cap to near 16 billion dollars. 2016 will be a pivotal year, if the callable debt can be refinance on more favourable terms, then First Data may have truly turned the corner. Until then it’s too early to tell but for now there appears to be hope again for a once sinking ship.

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Börsenticker: KKR will WMF wieder verkaufen - für 2 Milliarden Dollar

Der Finanzinvestor KKR & Co. strebt nach Informationen des Nachrichtendienstes Reuters den Verkauf seiner Beteiligung WMF an. Das 1832 gegründete Unternehmen beschäftigt weltweit 6.000 Angestellte an mehr als 40 Standorten.

KKR hatte die Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik im Jahr 2012 übernommen und nach einem Squeeze-out der Minderheitsaktionäre erst in diesem Jahr von der Börse genommen. Seinerzeit wurde WMF mit rund 600 Mio. EUR bewertet und KKR möchte nun rund das Dreifache erlösen, rund 1,8 Mrd. EUR (2 Mrd. USD). Zu diesem Zweck wird auch mit direkten Wettbewerbern von WMF verhandelt, sowohl über die Übernahme des gesamten Unternehmens, wie auch über Teilverkäufe. Neben der Sparte der Gastronomieautomaten ist WMF auch bei Geschirr und Tischkultur stark positioniert.

KKR hatte die Anleger jüngst mit der Meldung verschreckt, künftig nur noch eine feste Quartalsdividende von 0,16 USD je Aktie ausschütten zu wollen, was bei einem Kurs von 15 EUR eine stark gekürzte Dividendenrendite von "nur" noch 3,9 Prozent ausmacht. Im Gegenzug hatte man ein Aktienrückkaufprogramm im Volumen von 500 Mio. USD angekündigt. KKR befindet sich auf meiner Empfehlungsliste.

>>> zur Meldung

[sirmike [Blogger]]

PE firm KKR acquires 58% stake in India’s Avendus for $115m

US-based private equity firm KKR and Co. Lp has acquired a majority stake in Avendus Group from existing investors, paying $115-120 million (Rs.750-780 crore), as it seeks to tap a boom in fund-raising that has propelled the home-grown financial services firm to the top echelons of investment banks in India.

KKR, formerly Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co., has bought about 58% from 13 investors led by Eastgate Capital Group (ECG), which alone holds about a 26% stake in Avendus, two people familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity. The remaining 42% is held by founders Ranu Vohra, Gaurav Deepak and Kaushal Aggarwal who have no immediate plans to dilute their stake, one of the two said.

ECG, the private equity unit of NCB Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, invested Rs.100 crore in Avendus in 2008.

At the price paid for the 58% stake, the enterprise value of Avendus comes to $200 million (Rs.1,300 crore), the first person said.

Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd, which started in 1999, operates through four of its arms: Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd (M&As, structured finance, equity capital markets, financial sponsors group, private equity syndication), Avendus Wealth Management Pvt. Ltd, Avendus Capital (UK) Pvt. Ltd and Avendus Capital Inc. (US).

Sanjay Nayar, chief executive officer of KKR’s India arm, and Vohra, managing director and CEO, Avendus Capital, declined to comment on the transaction. An email sent to Eastgate Capital on Wednesday did not elicit any response. In September, The Economic Times reported that KKR and Avendus were in discussions.

The purchase will give KKR a unit that has vaulted to the top ranks of investment banks in India since 2014, benefiting from a fund-raising spree by e-commerce firms. Avendus ranked fourth in the advisory league table for announced technology deals in India till May 2015, ahead of bigger global rivals including Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to a May 2015 report by Thomson Reuters.

According to Thomson Reuters’ half-yearly listing of big investment banks, Avendus stood second after Morgan Stanley in terms of fees in the first half of this year.

According to the listing, Morgan Stanley made $8.33 million and Avendus $7.8 million. Goldman Sachs was No. 3 with $3.52 million. In 2014, Credit Suisse Group topped the fee income table with $7.7 million in India technology advisory fees, followed by Avendus with $3.7 million.

This year, Avendus has advised on transactions including the $200 million merger between Serendipity Infolabs Pvt. Ltd, which runs online cab aggregation service TaxiForSure, and ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, owner of Ola Cabs.

Other e-commerce deals it advised on include Quikr’s $150 million fund-raising led by Tiger Global Management in April and music streaming company Saavn’s $100 million financing round led by Tiger Global in July.

Avendus advised Nashik Vintners (Sula Wines), BookMyShow, 3i Infotech, Indiahomes, Servion, Delhivery, Lenskart.com, FreeCharge, Shopclues.com and FirstCry.com in their fund-raising processes.

In the private equity advisory space also, Avendus advised on 31 transactions and helped raise $3.46 billion in 2014.

“With its investment in Avendus, KKR plans to build a replica of global firm Goldman Sachs in India, a combination of investments and advisory,” the second person said.

The deal was finalized a couple of months ago, but buying out all minority investors took time, delaying the closure of the transaction, the person added.

“KKR is known for writing big cheques for large corporates. But the buyout of Avendus will help it create a financial services powerhouse where entire gamut of financing, including retail lending, could be available. Similar to a drastic change of Edelweiss, which started 20 years ago for corporate financing, Avendus may become among the largest financial services firms in India, with the backing of KKR,” said a Mumbai-based investment banker on condition of anonymity.

KKR has been active in India since 2008, disbursing about Rs.17,000 crore through its various credit platforms and investing $1.4 billion through private equity deals.

KKR’s India investments include tyre maker Alliance Tire Group and JBF Industries Ltd, a manufacturer of polyester value-chain products. Borrowers includes GMR Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Gautam Thapar’s Avantha Group and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.

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KKR to Buy Offices at Hudson Yards, Relocate From Plaza District

KKR & Co., the buyout firm that rose to prominence in the 1980s when it paid more than $31 billion for RJR Nabisco, agreed to buy about 343,000 square feet of office space at 30 Hudson Yards, setting the stage for its relocation from Manhattan’s Plaza District to a development zone once dominated by bus garages and a train depot.

The company is taking the top 10 office floors of a 90-story tower that will be the tallest building in Related Cos.’ $20 billion development west of Midtown, the companies said in a joint statement. The price wasn’t disclosed. KKR will join Time Warner Inc. in the 2.6 million-square-foot (242,000-square-meter) tower, giving Related an 85 percent occupancy rate at both of the first two skyscrapers it’s building at the yards.

The move signals a culture shift as KKR plans its departure from 9 W. 57th St., which is among Manhattan’s most exclusive office towers. KKR’s presence, along with that of Apollo Global Management LLC, Silver Lake Management and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, helped cement 9 W. 57th’s reputation as the home of some of New York’s top financial firms.

The move “isn’t an isolated event,” Jeff Blau, chief executive officer of New York-based Related, said in a phone interview. “It’s part of a dynamic change that’s happening, where people are moving west and specifically moving to Hudson Yards.”
The idea of relocating KKR to the Yards “started at the top” with KKR Co-Chief Executive Officer Henry Kravis, Blau said.

KKR did a commutation study and found the location to be convenient for its workforce., Blau said. The Yards are benefiting from the popularity of the High Line and the new Whitney Museum of American Art, he said.

‘Dynamic Setting’
“This move will allow our teams to work together in a dynamic setting that promotes innovation and forward thinking,” Kravis said in the statement.

Kristi Huller, a KKR spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the statement. Thirty Hudson Yards is slated to be finished in 2019, with KKR moving in in 2020, according to Related.

KKR has about 161,000 square feet at its current building, according to data from CoStar Group Inc., a Washington-based firm that tracks office leasing. The skyscraper, whose glass sides slope gently from a broad base to a narrow top, offers commanding views of Central Park and the skyline to the south.

Owner Sheldon Solow, who completed the tower in 1972, is known for withholding its offices from all but the most exclusive of tenants, said Michael Cohen, tri-state regional president for brokerage Colliers International. The tower is about 67 percent occupied, and all of floors 22 through 29 are available for lease, according to CoStar.

Emerging Market
“I’m sure it will be a step up,” Cohen said about KKR’s move to Hudson Yards. “Because, let’s face it, 9 West is over 40 years old. I think there’s an element of a strike-while-the-iron-is hot optimism here, to get a chunk of this emerging market as an investor.”

A voicemail left with Solow’s company wasn’t returned.
Besides Time Warner, which is taking about 1.5 million square feet at 30 Hudson, KKR will join Coach Inc., SAP SE, L’Oreal USA and VaynerMedia as Hudson Yards’ first office occupants. Those four companies will be the principal occupants of 10 Hudson Yards, a 1.7 million-square-foot tower that topped out earlier this month and is scheduled to open in March.

Like Time Warner, KKR will own its offices rather than rent from Related and its project partners, which include Toronto’s Oxford Properties Group. The arrangement allows the companies to make a single one-time payment and not have to deal with rent increases, certain taxes and the negotiation of lease extensions, Blau said. For Related, it allows the company to raise working capital it can then reinvest in further development of Hudson Yards, a 28-acre (11-hectare) project that also includes almost 6 million square feet of multifamily high-rises.

Highest Observatory
Thirty Hudson, a 1,296-foot (395-meter) tower that will feature the city’s highest public observatory, is being built over what is known as the “throat” of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority train yard, where trains enter and leave the parking area. It requires the thickest steel bracing of the platform over which Related is building most of the project.

The tower will offer KKR its own private elevator bank, river-to-river panoramic views and an outdoor terrace, according to the statement. Blau said the company will have access to space in the observatory it can use for private events.

Both 10 and 30 Hudson Yards are approaching full occupancy, Blau said. He declined to identify companies Related is in negotiations with.

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