KKR (NYSE: KKR) is a private-equity firm headquartered in New York, United States that owns 12 consumer brands across 2 categories through 2 subsidiaries, and has 2 recorded transactions.[1]
KKR was founded in 1976 and effectively invented the leveraged buyout as a large-scale business, most famously with its 1988 takeover of RJR Nabisco. Its consumer holdings are held through funds rather than permanently, so brands under its control are expected to be sold within several years.
Coty sold a controlling sixty per cent stake in its professional beauty and retail hair business to KKR, valuing it at about $4.3 billion. The carve-out created Wella Company as a standalone business, which is why salon brands and Coty fragrances now sit under different owners.
Unilever sold its spreads business to KKR, which established it as a standalone company named Upfield. Unilever had been trying to exit margarine for years as consumption declined, and the sale followed its rejection of a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz that had prompted a strategic review.