Fresenius Medical Care AG
KKR Boosts Asset Management Platform
New York, NY, March 11, 2010 – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) today announced the transition of four new leaders within its $13 billion asset management platform (KKR Asset Management or KAM). The new appointments augment existing efforts and focus these individuals by product lines to better capitalize on opportunities to source investments, manage and grow KAM’s portfolio.
"We continue to focus on leveraging the intellectual capital and unique origination capabilities of KKR’s entire network and capturing emerging investment opportunities where KKR can add substantive value. As a firm, we are very well positioned to invest across all parts of a company’s capital structure. Given the set of current and expected global opportunities, we are creating more focus and devoting more resources that will enable the team to continue creating unique solutions for global businesses and generating good returns for our clients," Bill Sonneborn, a Member of KKR, said. KAM invests across the corporate credit spectrum, including secured credit, bank loans and high yield securities as well as alternative assets such as mezzanine financing, rescue financing, distressed investing and debtor-in-possession financing.
As part of today’s announcement, Jamie Weinstein and Nathaniel Zilkha have been named responsible for KAM’s global special situations strategy, which includes distressed debt, debtor-in-possession and rescue financing as well as other structured investments. Weinstein, previously a portfolio manager within KAM, joined KKR in 2005 and has 11 years of industry experience. Zilkha joined KKR in 2007 after spending eight years in Goldman Sachs’ Principal Investment Area where he invested in private equity and principal debt transactions.
Additionally, Erik Falk and Chris Sheldon have been named responsible for KAM’s leveraged credit strategy, including leveraged loans, high yield bonds and structured products (including collateralized loan obligations). Falk joined KKR in 2008 after spending 8 years at Deutsche Bank’s credit business where he started the special situations proprietary trading group and co-headed the securitized products group; he has 17 years of overall industry experience. Sheldon, a portfolio manager within KAM, joined KKR in 2004 from Wells Fargo, where he was primarily responsible for investments in the high yield asset class; he has 11 years of credit experience.
Finally, KKR continues to grow its mezzanine effort. Led by Fred Goltz, the mezzanine team has been built on a global basis with senior executives Marc Ciancimino in London, Doug Tapley in San Francisco and Lee Stern in New York. KKR launched KAM in 2004. The leveraged loan, high yield, special situations and mezzanine teams are integrated into one investment team. In total, KKR’s credit unit includes over 75 employees, including more than 30 investment professionals dedicated to investing within credit across nine industries and the industry teams are organized to align with KKR’s private equity investment and industry teams. As of December 31, 2009, KAM has $13.4 billion in assets under management through a publicly traded specialty finance company, structured finance vehicles and separately managed accounts.
About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global alternative asset manager with $52.2 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2009, over 600 people and 14 offices around the world. KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platforms. KKR is publicly traded through KKR & Co. (Guernsey) L.P. (Euronext Amsterdam: KKR). For additional information, please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com.
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Media Contacts:
Peter McKillop or Kristi Huller
Phone: 212-750-8300
Email: media@kkr.com