Global investment firm KKR & Co announced on Wednesday that it successfully raised a staggering $6.4 billion for its infrastructure fund focused on the dynamic and rapidly expanding Asia Pacific region. The New York-based company stated that this fund represents the largest pan-regional infrastructure fund ever raised for the Asia Pacific area.
As Asia continues to drive more than 60% of global growth, marked by increasing domestic consumption, productivity, rapid urbanization, and a burgeoning middle class, the demand for new infrastructure and sustainable energy sources is poised to accelerate. Hardik Shah, a partner at KKR’s Infrastructure team based in Mumbai, emphasized this growth potential in a statement.
KKR’s impressive achievement received strong support from both new and existing global investors, including public and corporate pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowment funds, and asset managers. The fund’s broad mandate encompasses various sectors such as renewables, power and utilities, water and wastewater, digital infrastructure, and transportation.
The investment giant has already committed more than half of the capital from the fund across approximately 10 strategic investments. KKR’s recent activities include acquiring a 20% stake in Singapore Telecommunications’ regional data center business for S$1.1 billion and a $400 million investment in Malaysian subsea telecommunications cable services provider OMS Group.
KKR, in collaboration with South Korea’s Taeyoung Group, is reportedly planning to sell their joint venture Ecorbit, potentially valuing the environmental company at more than $2 billion. The robust deal activities by KKR reflect the heightened pace of mergers and acquisitions in the global infrastructure and energy space, driven by soaring demand and increasing popularity of the asset class.
The investment firm established its global infrastructure team and strategy in 2008 and now manages an impressive $56 billion in assets under management across more than 80 infrastructure investments globally. In the Asia Pacific region alone, KKR has organically grown to manage around $13 billion in assets since its inception in 2019.
This accomplishment follows KKR’s success in 2021, when it raised $3.9 billion for its inaugural Asia Pacific-dedicated infrastructure fund, KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors SCSp, which held the title of the largest Asia-dedicated pan-regional fund at that time. David Luboff, Co-Head of KKR Asia Pacific and Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure at KKR, emphasized that infrastructure is a key pillar of KKR’s global and regional strategy.
U.S. law firm Debevoise & Plimpton served as primary fund counsel for KKR in this significant fundraising endeavor. As KKR continues to strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific infrastructure landscape, the newly raised funds will undoubtedly contribute to the region’s sustainable development and economic growth.
