‘Barbarians at the Gate’ private equity giant KKR prepares to join in the UK pandemic plundering
Private equity giant KKR is plotting a raid on the UK in a move that will fuel concerns about ‘pandemic plundering’.
The Wall Street giant’s European boss, Mattia Caprioli, said it was expanding operations in Britain to take advantage of the relatively cheap company valuations compared to rivals abroad.
KKR is bringing in a team of five deal makers to hunt for bargains, and moving to a bigger London office in Mayfair’s Hanover Square.
On the hunt: KKR is expanding its UK operations, bringing in a team of five deal makers to hunt for bargains, while also moving to a bigger London office in Mayfair’s Hanover Square
The planned land-grab will send tremors through the City, which is already facing an onslaught of private equity takeovers.
Corporate raiders at KKR became notorious as the original ‘Barbarians at the Gate’ in a 1989 book of the same name about their predatory assault on US conglomerate RJR Nabisco.
KKR was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, and today manages £265billion of assets.
It bought Alliance Boots in 2007, with the support of top shareholder and boss Stefano Pessina, for £11.1billion.
Bosses now believe the UK is a fertile hunting ground once again, after Brexit and the pandemic depressed company valuations.
Caprioli said KKR will have ‘dedicated people covering the UK’, including investment director Michaela Wood, who is moving from rival CVC Capital Partners.
‘There’s more value at a high level in the UK than there is in other markets,’ Caprioli said.
He claimed the firm was ‘not that focused on buying listed companies in the UK’, however, because that was more difficult than buying private businesses.
There have now been 366 private equity bids for UK companies so far this year – by far the most since records began in 1984.
That has fuelled claims that companies are being sold off on the cheap, as well as concerns for jobs, pensions and tax contributions.