There's been lots of buzz that the upcoming KKR IPO is dead. In fact, a recent report from The Times of London suggested that the offering has been postponed.
Well, maybe not. KKR has indicated that the rumor is not true.
I have to admire the optimism of KKR (hey, it's probably been a key the firm's success). No doubt, it's been a crummy time lately for private equity. There's a credit crunch. And, of course, the stock prices of Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) have been miserable. It even looks like Carlyle is going to forgo an IPO for 2007.
But private equity is about the long term. And it's in bad markets where the opportunities seem to pop up, especially for those firms that are well capitalized.
A key test will be KKR's upcoming financing of the mega buyout of First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC). If the deal can get done, there may be some hope for the KKR offering.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
