KKR Strengthens South East Asia Presence with Singapore Office

The opening establishes KKR's seventh office in Asia Pacific, with the Singapore office serving as the regional hub for Southeast Asia and will be dedicated towards its investment activities throughout the region.

The Singapore office builds upon KKR's model of marrying deep market knowledge of experienced local hires with KKR's global network for the benefit of its investors and portfolio companies. KKR's Southeast Asiateam is led by Ming Lu, Member and Regional Leader of Southeast Asia, and includes Directors Kabir Mathur from Singapore and Ridha Wirakusumah from Indonesia.

Co-Founder, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of KKR Henry Kravis said, 'Singapore is at the heart of the dynamic growth that is taking place across Southeast Asia. We have invested more than $1bn in this region since 2005, and Southeast Asia is KKR's second largest investment destination in Asia after China. But now is the time to establish a permanent presence. This means we will be even more committed to understanding local business environments, their unique challenges and opportunities, and the specific needs of its entrepreneurs, investors, workers and business leaders'.

Boosted by positive population demographics and growing consumer affluence, KKR sees opportunities in Southeast Asia arising from the increase in domestic consumption; the rapid development of the financial services industry; the increasing demand for better and improved infrastructure; opportunities from non-core carve-outs and corporate divestitures as well as divestments from state-owned enterprises; and, increasing growth and generational change opportunities with entrepreneurs.

To date, KKR has invested more than $1bn in four transactions across Southeast Asia-- Avago, MMI and Unisteel, all headquartered in Singapore - and a $159m investment in Masan Consumer, the largest-ever private equity transaction in Vietnam. In addition, Singapore-listed United Envirotech Limited, a leading water treatment and recycling solution provider in China, is also a KKR portfolio company.

Ming Lu, Member and Regional Leader of Southeast Asiaat KKR said, 'With an ever-increasing number of strong local businesses looking to grow in their own markets as well as to expand internationally, KKR's partnership approach provides an opportunity for these companies to tap into our global best practices to further expand their businesses and improve operations while doing so in a localized way. KKR maintains a team of senior executives with extensive, hands-on international managerial and operational experience in an array of industries who are dedicated to working with KKR's portfolio companies based in the region'.