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Fee-related earnings jump 25% to $843 mln

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KKR set to increase ownership in three investments

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Firm boosts earnings forecast for long-term private equity

holdings

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paragraph)

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Alternative asset manager KKR & Co's ( KKR )

fourth-quarter profit exceeded Wall Street expectations

on Tuesday, as a rebound in dealmaking activity boosted its

income from asset sales.

Lower interest rates and market expectations of a more

business-friendly regulatory environment under the Trump

administration have resulted in an improved deal and exit

environment.

KKR, one of the world's largest alternative asset managers,

said last year it expects to surpass $1 trillion in assets in

the next five years.

The New York-based firm reported a 15% jump in assets under

management in the quarter to $638 billion, and a 25% rise in

fee-related earnings to $843 million.

Its adjusted net income surged 33% to $1.19 billion, or

$1.32 per share, above analysts' expectations of $1.28,

according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Last week, larger rival Blackstone also beat

quarterly profit expectations, driven by a dealmaking rebound.

"While it was a relatively uneventful quarter, KKR continues

on a solid growth trajectory even with no significant

contributions from flagship private equity funds," said

Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski.

Its infrastructure funds gained 2%, opportunistic real

estate funds rose 1%, while the private equity portfolio was

flat in the fourth quarter.

PRIVATE EQUITY BETS

KKR on Tuesday raised earnings forecast from its strategic

holdings unit, which houses long-term private equity

investments, and said it will boost stake in USI Insurance

Services, 1-800 Contacts and Heartland Dental by about $1.1

billion.

It now expects $350 million-plus in 2026 and $1.1

billion-plus by 2030 in operating earnings from the unit.

KKR hauled $27 billion of new capital in the reported

quarter and deployed $23 billion in investments.

In the last few months, it has announced a series of deals

including the acquisition of a 25% stake in Italian energy group

Eni's biofuel business Enilive for 2.94 billion euro.

The firm has also been involved in an elongated bidding war

with private equity firm Bain Capital over Japan's Fuji Soft

. It sweetened its offer for Fuji Soft on Tuesday.

KKR also trimmed its stake in financial software maker

OneStream ( OS ) in November through a secondary offering.

Shares of the New York-based firm fell 5.1% to $154.65 in

early trading. They had jumped 78.5% in 2024.