Private equity heavyweight KKR & Co has secured a $300 million capital commitment for its latest Asia-focused fund, KKR Asian Fund IV, from the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF).
The KKR fund will seek pan-Asia investments with a focus on control-oriented buyout transactions, according to CRF’s monthly transaction report in June. The investment was closed in June.
The US private equity giant is seeking to raise $12.5 billion for its fourth buyout fund targeted at Asia. It has received commitments from Asian limited partners such as life insurance companies Fubon and Cathay. It had also bagged a $150 million commitment from the Minnesota State Board of Investment in February.
The fourth fund is about one-third larger than its predecessor fund, which closed in 2017 at $9.3 billion. The third Asia fund is still actively deploying capital and has recently pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses such as India’s Jio Platforms and JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Philippine power firm First Gen and Vietnam-based property company Vinhomes.
The targeted fourth regional fund, once closed, will surpass the $10.6-billion record set by Hillhouse Capital in 2018. KKR’s Asian Fund IV was said to have already gathered over $10 billion, according to multiple media reports.
New York CRF’s other approved commitments in June include €500 million ($588.93 million) to CVC Capital Partners VIII. CVC expects to make control-oriented buyout investments in Western Europe and North America.
Meanwhile, the retirement fund has also made a commitment of $200 million to Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund VI. Ares will seek investments in North American companies within the consumer & retail, healthcare, services & technology, and industrials sectors.
CRF invests in private equity partnerships directly and through separately managed accounts. It is the third largest pension fund in the United States. It has a value of $194.3 billion in assets held in trust for pension benefits as of March 31, 2020.
There are over 3,000 state and local government participating employers and more than one million members, retirees and beneficiaries, according to its website.
