KKR holds $510m interim close on RE fund

The New York-based firm has a $2bn target for its second US opportunistic fund.

KKR has corralled $510 million in an interim close for its second Americas-focused opportunistic real estate fund, according to forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

The New York-based firm launched KKR Real Estate Partners Americas II in the fourth quarter of 2015 with a $2 billion target, according to PERE data. SEC filings show that the first close of the fund occurred in June 2016 but did not specify the amount raised during the initial close. One investor in the vehicle is the Maine Public Employees’ Retirement System, which earmarked $50 million, the same amount it committed to REPA I.

A spokeswoman declined to comment on the ongoing fundraise.

KKR closed its debut vehicle in December 2013 on $1.5 billion, PERE previously reported. The firm had committed about $900 million of REPA I’s capital as of March 31, and the fund’s investment period was set to end this month, according to KKR’s first-quarter earnings report.

REPA I generated a 16.2 percent net internal rate of return and a 1.4x multiple as of December 31, according to KKR’s annual report.

On the firm’s first-quarter 2016 earnings call, Scott Nuttall, head of the firm’s global capital and asset management group, said KKR “would hope to see growth” in fundraising for REPA II compared with its predecessor vehicle.

“We're in the market now with REPA II marketing off that [Fund I] track record, so the opportunistic strategy is going quite well,” Nuttall told analysts.

The firm is using New York-based Morgan Stanley and Seoul-based Daewoo Securities as placement agents for REPA II, according to the SEC filings. JPMorgan was the placement agent for REPA I.