Sanjay Nayar Elevated as KKR Chairman; Trehan to Head PE Biz

Global private equity fund KKR has elevated Sanjay Nayar, chief executive officer of the India office, as its chairman, effective from December 31. As a part of the transition process, Gaurav Trehan would head KKR’s private equity (PE) practice in the country. His elevation comes at a time when KKR India has had a record investing year despite the pandemic.

In May, KKR invested Rs. 11,367 crore for a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms, making it as its single largest cheque in Asia to date. It further deployed Rs. 5,550 crore for a 1.28 percent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures as of October. The firm also has acquired a majority stake of 54 percent in Mumbai-based drug manufacturer JB Chemicals for Rs3,100 crore. JB Chemicals is a listed firm and KKR agreed to acquire 41.7 million shares of the promoters at Rs. 745 apiece.

While KKR has been investing in Reliance Group’s assets, one thing looks certain is the firm is presently focusing on pure-play PE business.

The PE firm has been stitching a merger of its NBFC book with Mumbai-based InCred which has a retail franchise since the middle of 2020. The deal is expected to be closed soon and Nayar is overseeing the transaction. The firm lends in India through its two credit arms—KKR India Financial Services Pvt Ltd, the wholesale lending arm, and KKR India Asset Finance Pvt Ltd to real estate firms—and saw some of its investments in the corporate lending book turn source.

Sources close to the company revealed that post the merger, while KKR will own a majority, the business will more or less be run by Bhupinder Singh, founder of InCred, who was the former head of investment banking at Deutsche Bank Asia-Pacific. While the real estate book still lies with the firm, it will be looking at solutions for it too.

In October, it also launched its renewable energy platform, Virescent Infrastructure, to acquire green energy assets in the country. This portfolio consists of the Shapoorji assets it acquired earlier this year. The platform is being led by Sanjay Grewal.

According to the report released by analyzemarkets.com, KKR has raised $13.1 billion in total equity commitments for its fourth Asia PE, including parallel vehicles, according to the firms’ filings with the Securities Exchange Commission. It would make it the largest Asia-focussed fundraised to date.