KKR’s Buyout Chief Sees US Activity Picking Up, Europe Subdued

KKR & Co. is seeing a pickup in US dealmaking with the expectation that the Trump administration will create a more business-friendly regulatory environment, according to the firm’s co-head of global private equity.

Author of the article:

Bloomberg News

Dinesh Nair and Jan-Henrik Förster

Published Jan 22, 2025  •  2 minute read

The KKR & Co. logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. KKR & Co. is exploring options for its majority stake in a commercial lighting manufacturer in China including a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg Photo by Gabby Jones /Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — KKR & Co. is seeing a pickup in US dealmaking with the expectation that the Trump administration will create a more business-friendly regulatory environment, according to the firm’s co-head of global private equity.

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“There is a real pick up in activity in the US going into this year,” KKR’s Pete Stavros said in an interview Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We are pretty busy across sectors like industrials, health care and technology, and are looking actively at take-private transactions and carveouts.”

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The credit market has been more conducive to dealmaking recently, Stavros said. KKR is looking to deploy about 15% to 25% from each of its private equity funds this year, similar to previous years, he added.

Dealmaking in the US is off to a strong start in 2025 with roughly $100 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions announced so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Constellation Energy Corp. agreed to buy closely held Calpine Corp. for around $16 billion, while Johnson & Johnson struck a deal to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. for about $14.6 billion.

Earlier this month, KKR agreed to buy a minority stake in American Electric Power Co.’s transmission business alongside Canada’s PSP Investments for $2.8 billion. Last year, T-Mobile US Inc. invested $4.9 billion in a joint venture with KKR to buy fiber-optic internet service provider Metronet.

“Europe seems a bit more subdued due to slow economic growth and political uncertainty in certain countries, although we still deployed consistently last year and expect to do the same this year,” Stavros. “It will pick up, but for now there’s more activity in the US.”

Stavros’s comments echo optimism over the US deal outlook from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Barclays Plc. Meanwhile, potential US tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China have been one of the biggest topics among Davos attendees.

“While the dealmaking environment in the US is clearly positive, there are areas such as tariffs, climate policy that people are keen to understand better,” Stavros said.

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