NEW YORK CITY-Private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts is planning to make a bid for ING Groep NV’s worldwide real estate investment unit, including ING Clarion in the US, Bloomberg reported Thursday. A KKR spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com the firm does not comment on speculation, while an ING spokesman confirms that the company has not yet decided whether to sell the unit. The Dutch-based financial service giant had earlier announced that it’s evaluating the position of its ING Real Estate Investment Management arm within the context of the company’s overall platform.
Earlier this year, ING sold its US online banking business as well as some insurance operations. If the REIM unit is sold, the buyer would have to assume capital commitments ING has made to its real estate funds, which had $99.5 billion of assets under management as of June 30.
KKR’s possible interest in the real estate unit is seen as further evidence of its interest in diversifying its portfolio from leveraged buyouts. It recently added infrastructure investment and capital markets advisory businesses. On Thursday, Private Equity Online reported that a team of nine Goldman Sachs proprietary trading professionals would join KKR in January, paving the way for KKR to launch a hedge fund business.
Citing an unnamed source, Private Equity Online said the group, led by Bob Howard, would focus on risk management, trading and research. There are no plans for KKR to raise a fund, the source said, although third-party capital is likely to be raised for a public equities trading business.
Click here for the Bloomberg article, and here for the Private Equity Online story.
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