KKR preparing to launch new Asia fund by year-end, seeking a record $7 bln: Reuters

(Reuters) — Private equity firm KKR & Co has started talks with investors for a third Asia fund that it plans to formally launch by year-end and which aims to raise around $7 billion, a regional record, people familiar with the plans said.

KKR set a record for Asia private equity fundraising with its $6 billion Asian Fund II in 2013, of which it has already deployed or committed about two-thirds, added the people, which included investors and advisers to KKR who couldn’t be named because details on the new fund have not been made public.

KKR declined to comment on its new fund.

The fundraising would pit KKR against rival U.S. buyout firm TPG Capital Management which is launching a new Asia fund in the coming months with a target of more than $4 billion, sources familiar with the plans previously told Reuters. (Reporting by Elzio Barreto and Denny Thomas; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Photo: A participant walks past a poster at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, January 20, 2010. Reuters/Bobby Yip