Kohlberg Kravis Roberts on Friday announced it would invest more than $1 billion to acquire a majority stake in Panasonic Healthcare, a Tokyo-based medical equipment maker.
In a joint news release, KKR and the target firm’s parent company, Panasonic Corp., said PHC Holdings, an entity wholly owned by KKR investment funds, would purchase all of Panasonic Healthcare’s outstanding shares for ¥165 billion ($1.7 billion), followed by a “third-party share allocation” that would leave KKR and Panasonic with respective stakes of 80% and 20% in the firm.
Spokesmen for KKR and Panasonic declined to say whether KKR would effectively be paying ¥165 billion for an 80% stake in Panasonic Healthcare, or whether Panasonic would be making a payment to KKR for the 20% stake in its affiliate.
A KKR spokesman in Tokyo confirmed that funding for KKR’s purchase would come from KKR’s Asian II Fund, the record $6 billion Asia-focused private equity fund that closed in July.
This is the first deal related to that fund to be announced.
The news release said KKR and Panasonic expect to complete the deal by March.
