KKR is not turning activist, says co-president, Blackstone flagship PE fund LPs get a fee holiday, Altaris healthcare fund triples target

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Hope you had a great weekend.

KKR is not turning activist, Co-President Scott Nuttall said during the firm’s full-year earnings call in late January.

That perception has been rising as the firm increases its stake in stumbling U.S. restaurant and entertainment chain Dave & Buster’s. In a filing dated Jan. 9, the firm disclosed it had boosted its stake in the company to 10.7 percent, which grew from 2.65 percent in September.

The disclosure said KKR has and intends to continue discussions with management or the board about the business, strategy, plans and prospects. The firm also may enter discussions with management, the board and shareholders about a sale, change of board or management or other material changes, according to the regulatory filing.

The Dave & Buster’s investment got attention “because of its consumer services nature, but to be clear, there’s nothing new here from our standpoint,” Nuttall said during the firm’s fourth quarter and full-year earnings call in late January.

“We’ve made 40 investments over the last seven years in public companies,” he said. “We’re not activists in the traditional sense. We’re working with management teams of those companies. I think the press ran with it a bit.”

Check out our story on PE Hub.

Speaking of KKR …
The firm made a push into insurtech with its recent investment in Policygenius. The company is an online platform where customers can find the most appropriate insurance policy option for the best price, writes Milana Vinn on PE Hub.

Insurance is a large market segment in the U.S., and it’s set to undergo disruption, Allan Jean-Baptiste, principal at KKR, told PE Hub.

“Consumers are increasingly moving their decision-making online: we’ve seen it in travel with companies like Expedia and in real estate with Zillow. It becomes harder for traditional insurance companies to acquire customers exclusively offline,” Jean-Baptiste said.

Check it out here.

Top Scoops
LPs in Blackstone Group’s eighth flagship private equity fund, which closed last year on $26 billion, will get a fee holiday once the firm begins investing from the fund. That’s according to Michael Chae, Blackstone’s chief financial officer, during the firm’s full-year earnings call last month.

The firm expects to activate the fund in the next few quarters, after which time LPs will get a four-month fee holiday. A Blackstone spokesman declined to provide further details about the fee holiday. Check it out here.

Altaris Capital Partners kicked off fundraising for its fifth healthcare fund and recently got a big pledge from New Jersey’s state pension system, Justin Mitchell writes. Check it out.

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