The IPO market is lagging; the market for private equity-backed IPOs is lagging even more. But such a downturn may be the best time to prepare for the end of the drought. The last thing you want is to be caught unprepared for an upturn--and there will be an upturn.

To that end, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has struck a deal with Fidelity Investments that gives the retail brokerage the right to sell IPO shares through KKR's portfolio companies to its retail customers, Reuters reports. The hope of course is to stoke demand for the shares. At times, in the past--the dot-com era for example--retail demand has been strong. It's unclear, of course, how strong demand will be. It's also unclear if the deal is exclusive, or if KKR will be able to approach other retail brokerages, like Charles Schwab, about also making such shares available.

For more:
- here's the Reuters article

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