KKR Delays Plans to Go Public

Asset manager Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts doesn't expect to complete the acquisition of KKR Private Equity Investors until 2009 because of the credit crisis.

KKR planned to go public by taking over KKR Private Equity, the Amsterdam-listed buyout fund it created in 2006, by the end of 2008, according to a Bloomberg report.

KKR Private Equity said Monday in a press release the parties remain "committed to completing the transaction, but do not at this point expect the transaction to close until 2009."

KKR Private Equity said a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the transaction is continuing.

While reporting a third-quarter decline in net asset value, KKR Private Equity said "uncertainty regarding the value of assets and the ability of counterparties to meet their obligations, and a lack of transparency regarding the magnitude of risk inherent in certain investments, spread from the residential real estate market to financial markets generally. "

The buyout fund added that "sources of liquidity may be not only more difficult, but also impossible to obtain in the current market environment."