KKR is going public the private equity way

It's been a while since I posted about KKR's S-1 filing about a year ago. If you haven't heard the firm is finally going to go public through a merger of its Amsterdam listed fund. Apparently KKR is going to take over its listed fund then simultaneously delist from the Amsterdam exchange and list on the NYSE. This is truly a buyout way of going public akin to a reverse merger.

It is interesting that the buyout occurs as the value of the listed fund is significantly below the original offering price. Clearly, this is KKR's way of going public despite what appears to be a hostile environment for financial firms and in particular private equity firms. Just look at the value of Blackstone, Carlyle's listed fund, and some hedge funds such as Fortress. I'm not going to say I told you so, but here are some thoughts about KKR going public. I still believe that going public is a mistake and that private equity should stay private.

As most CXO-level people will attest, being a CEO of a public company is not fun. You have to report to shareholders. You have to report to the Street. You are forever a public person, unable to hide in private.

From a financial point of view, there really should only be one time to go public - when the market multiple is extremely high, higher than you would attain from a buyer in the private market - clearly this is not that environment for a financial firm.

I still will tip my hats off to the guys at KKR -they have cajones. Perhaps they are just taking advantage of another buyout with great value - it just happens to be their own fund that they are buying out.