KKR Cancels Planned $500 Million Offering

KKR & Co. (KKR) late Monday said it will not proceed with the proposed public offering of $500 million in common units and has applied to withdraw the offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a regulatory filing, KKR cites "unfavorable market conditions" as the reason.

The private equity giant's common units began trading on the NYSE last month after registering 204.9 million common units worth about $1.93 billion. The units were delisted from the Euronext Amsterdam.

While this means the funds KKR had planned to raise from this offering for investment purposes won't be available to it, it is, however, free of certain restrictions that come with offerings -- specifically, what it can discuss with analysts. Now it can pique the interest of analysts and perhaps help its unit price rise. Since July 15, it has fallen some 3%.

The leveraged-buyout company, which invested in hospital operator HCA, Dollar General (DG) and toy retailer Toys 'R' Us, said it plans to re-register with the SEC later.

KKR also reported late Monday its second-quarter net income dropped 91% to $29.9 million, or 15 cents a share, as the firm's employee compensation and benefits spiked seven-fold to $348.6 million from $47.9 million. Fee revenue jumped 71% to $87 million.