Signs of recovery in the private equity sector, with KKR’s profits soaring by 29 per cent

Following months of severe tensions, there are now some positive signs in the US private equity sector. KKR has posted a strong third quarter. The US private equity giant reported an adjusted net profit up 29 per cent year-on-year to 1.65 billion, equivalent to 1.78 dollars per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations, and expects to return over 40 billion dollars to investors by 2026. The stock market reacted positively straight away, with gains of more than 2.5 per cent during trading on Wall Street.

The US firm then announced that it had raised $25 billion in new capital, bringing its total assets under management above the $800 billion mark. This result has been driven by KKR’s expansion into other areas beyond private equity, such as credit and real assets, with the aim of exceeding $1,000 billion in assets by 2030. Transactions that have underpinned these results include the sale of the data centre cooling firm CoolIT Systems and the private aviation infrastructure platform Atlantic Aviation. The sale of Usi Insurance Services to Aon for $17 billion is also expected to be finalised. Although insurance revenues fell to $230 million, KKR has $145.6 billion in uncalled capital, a reserve intended to support future investments.