PE moves: KKR, exits and industrial bids
Private equity is active in structured ways: KKR provided about 1.22 trillion won (roughly $820m) to Samsung SDS via convertible bonds to support an AI push. KKR is also relaunching a sale of Re Sustainability targeting a $2bn‑plus valuation, while global buyout groups including KKR and Apollo are reported as potential bidders for Portugal’s Logoplaste. (kedglobal.com) (moneycontrol.com) (bloomberg.com)
KKR is showing three faces of private equity at once: financing growth at Samsung SDS, lining up an exit at Re Sustainability, and circling a new industrial target in Portugal. (kedglobal.com) (moneycontrol.com) (bloomberg.com) Samsung SDS said on April 15 that it would raise 1.22 trillion won, about $820 million, from KKR through newly issued convertible bonds. The South Korean information-technology services company said the money will back artificial intelligence infrastructure, overseas expansion and acquisitions. (kedglobal.com) (marketwatch.com) Convertible bonds start as debt and can later turn into shares, which gives an investor downside protection with a path to equity if the company grows. KED Global said the deal marks Samsung SDS’s first funding from a private equity firm and ends its debt-free management policy. (kedglobal.com) (koreaherald.com) At the same time, KKR has restarted the sale of a controlling stake in Re Sustainability, the Indian waste-management company formerly known as Ramky Enviro Engineers. Moneycontrol reported on April 17 that KKR is seeking a valuation above $2 billion and has drawn preliminary interest from Macquarie Group, Advent International, Bain Capital and other private equity firms. (moneycontrol.com) That process follows nearly seven years of ownership and comes after a demerger in which Re Sustainability’s municipal solid waste business was separated and sold back to the founder, according to Moneycontrol. The relaunch suggests KKR is trying to present a cleaner industrial-services story to buyers after an earlier sale effort stalled. (moneycontrol.com) A third track is opening in Portugal, where Bloomberg reported on April 16 that KKR and Apollo Global Management are among firms considering bids for packaging maker Logoplaste. Bloomberg said the company is expected to receive non-binding offers in May and that international packaging groups have also shown interest. (bloomberg.com) Logoplaste makes rigid plastic packaging, a business that sits between consumer-goods supply chains and industrial manufacturing. A bid there would fit the same pattern as the Samsung SDS financing and Re Sustainability sale: private equity firms are using structured capital, portfolio reshaping and selective industrial bets rather than broad market swings. (bloomberg.com) (kedglobal.com) The next tests are straightforward: Samsung SDS has to turn fresh capital into artificial-intelligence growth, KKR has to find a buyer for Re Sustainability at its target price, and Logoplaste’s auction has to produce binding interest after May’s first-round bids. (kedglobal.com) (moneycontrol.com) (bloomberg.com)
