KKR to go public after all?

June 23, 2009 | By Jim Kim

Recall that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had not given up on its plans to become a publicly traded private equity firm, following in the steps of Blackstone Group. KKR's efforts depended on a deal that would list the firm in New York and simultaneously buy out shares of its Europe-listed fund, KKR Private Equity Investors, which has been under lots of pressure.

Reuters reports that KKR may in fact separate the two plans. Reuters reports, "Separating the two plans would give KKR, co-founded by 'buyout king' Henry Kravis, the option to buy its Amsterdam-listed fund without the pressure of having to list at a difficult time to go public." In March, executives were reevaluating the plans in the face of credit crunch and set a new deadline to buy the fund, Aug. 31. So will it go public? It's not a bad environment, but you never know.

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