IDD Exclusive: KKR Makes New PE Leadership Appointments
KKR has named new North American private equity heads as part of its move to strengthen its investment platform.
December 19, 2008
As first reported by IDD, veteran Kohlberg Kravis Roberts members Michael Michelson and Alexander Navab will co-head the firm's North American private equity business.
Michelson heads the New York-based firm's healthcare team, where during his 27-year tenure he has also worked with a wide range of other businesses including AutoZone, Beatrice Cos. and Owens-Illinois. The dealmaker sits on the corporate boards of Accellent, HCA and Jazz Pharmaceuticals, as well as KKR's private equity investment committee.
Navab, meanwhile, has been with KKR for 15 years. He runs the firm's North American media and communications industry team and sits on KKR's private equity investment committee. A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Navab also serves as a board member at The Nielsen Co. and Visant.
Both Michelson and Navab will report to KKR co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who have transformed KKR from a leveraged buyout firm following its founding in 1976 into a global alternative asset behemoth with offices in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Over the last few months KKR also appointed Fred Goltz to spearhead the firm's mezzanine investment efforts, while Marc Lipschultz was named to lead its infrastructure investment activities.
The personnel shifts represent the latest moves by KKR to fortify its capital-raising and capital markets businesses at a time when the private equity industry is riding out the credit crunch. Earlier this week, KKR announced that its new asset management division would be led by private equity veteran William Sonneborn.
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