KKR Raises $2.5 Billion for Asia-Pacific Private Credit Fund
The fund will invest mainly in direct lending, custom financing solutions, and loans backed by assets.
Topics
News
- OpenAI Backs Merge Labs in Push Toward Brain-Computer Interfaces
- KKR Raises $2.5 Billion for Asia-Pacific Private Credit Fund
- Wikipedia Monetizes AI Access as Big Tech Scales Data Use
- Skild AI Raises $1.4 Billion as Investors Chase General-Purpose Robotics
- Airbnb Taps Ex-Meta GenAI Chief Al-Dahle as CTO
- xAI Moves to Rein in Grok After Backlash Over Explicit Images
KKR has raised $2.5 billion to invest in private credit opportunities across the Asia-Pacific region, underscoring growing demand for alternative lending as companies increasingly look beyond traditional bank financing.
The fundraising includes $1.8 billion for KKR Asia Credit Opportunities Fund II (ACOF II) and $700 million from separately managed accounts that will follow a similar investment approach.
KKR said ACOF II is now the largest pan-regional fund in Asia-Pacific focused on performing private credit, following its first Asia credit fund, which closed at $1.1 billion in 2022.
Since the fund began investing, KKR’s Asia Credit team has signed 10 deals through ACOF II, committing $1.9 billion from KKR-managed capital and supporting transactions worth $4.6 billion in total.
“Asia is a key part of KKR’s global credit strategy,” said Diane Raposio, partner and head of Asia Credit and Markets at KKR.
She said investor interest in credit investments in the region has been increasing and that KKR’s regional presence helps it find and execute deals.
The fund will focus on performing private credit, meaning loans to businesses that are already operating and generating cash. KKR said it will invest mainly in direct lending, custom financing solutions, and loans backed by assets.
S.J. Lim, managing director and head of Asia Private Credit at KKR, said private credit is still developing in Asia but demand is growing. “We see strong interest from companies and sponsors looking for flexible financing options that are not always available from banks,” he said.
KKR said the fund was backed by a mix of investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, banks, and asset managers.
Since 2019, KKR has completed more than 60 credit investments in Asia-Pacific, investing about $8.3 billion in total. These deals have covered sectors such as healthcare, education, real estate, logistics, and infrastructure, across markets including India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Globally, KKR manages around $282 billion in credit assets and has a credit team of about 250 professionals working across 12 offices worldwide.
