Global investment firm KKR has announced the final closing of KKR Ascendant Fund at $4.6bn, committed to investing in middle-market businesses in North America.
KKR launched the fund in 2022 as part of its Americas Private Equity platform and is the company’s first investment vehicle dedicated to opportunities in the middle market.
Ascendant will target established companies in seven industry verticals, including consumer, financial services, health care, industrials, media, software, and tech-enabled services.
Also, it is the first middle-market fund committed to supporting the implementation of employee ownership programs at every majority-owned company in which it invests, said KKR.
KKR Global Private Equity co-heads Pete Stavros and Nate Taylor said: “We are very proud of the strong response we have received from our fundraising efforts and believe that Ascendant is well-positioned to address the robust and attractive opportunities in the North American middle market.
“We have long invested in this space in our Americas Private Equity funds and have found that we can harness KKR’s unique resources and expertise in value creation to deliver highly differentiated business outcomes.
“We wanted to launch a fund dedicated to this segment so that our investors could directly participate in the compelling outcomes we believe we can continue to deliver in the middle market.”
KKR said the fund brings an integrated private equity platform, resources, and industry coverage to the middle market segment in North America.
It combines KKR’s private equity investment process, value-creation capabilities, and industry expertise with an experienced investment team in the US middle market.
Ascendant has invested in six companies to date, including Alchemer, 123Dentist, Industrial Physics, Potter Global Technologies, mdf commerce and Marmic Fire & Safety.
The fund, which was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap, received strong support from a diverse group of new and existing investors worldwide, said KKR.
The investors include public pensions, family offices, insurance companies and other institutional investors.
Debevoise & Plimpton served as primary fund counsel to KKR for the fundraising.
KKR’s Ascendant strategy co-heads Nancy Ford and Brandon Brahm said: “Broad-based employee ownership and engagement programs are a key part of how KKR creates and maintains value across our portfolio companies.
“Having seen the great success of these programs in other areas of KKR’s portfolio, we are thrilled that Ascendant will build on that strong foundation.
“These programs, which provide both equity ownership to employees and a strategy to enhance employee engagement, are implemented with the goal of creating aligned interests and enabling all employees to participate in the investment outcomes their work creates.”
Earlier this year, KKR concluded the fundraising for its KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors II, securing a substantial $6.4bn for infrastructure-related investments across the Asia Pacific.
