The Buyout BOOM Before the Buyout BUST
KKR Buyouts to Test the Stretched Credit Market KKR has taken the private-equity acquisitions boom to extremes. But as its biggest deal yet awaits financing, the fortunes of more than the firm are at stake.
By David Cho and Thomas Heath Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, September 11, 2007; D01
Wall Street may be facing its worst financial storm in years, but billionaire buyout king Henry Kravis is forging ahead with the biggest deals in U.S. history. Kravis's firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, has made deals for $123 billion in acquisitions this year, more than its three chief rivals combined.
. . . the firm's record $45 billion purchase of Texas utility giant TXU, approved by shareholders last week, exemplifies the freewheeling borrowing that defined the golden age of private equity in the past few years. . .
. . . Now debt markets are closely watching the latest drama involving KKR -- the attempt to push its massive, debt-laden purchases through the financial system. . . If they fail, …