Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has appointed Mubashir Mukadam as European Head of Special Situations for the firm’s USD14 billion asset management platform, KKR Asset Management LLC (KAM). Mukadam, based in London, will focus on secondary purchases of distressed assets as well as rescue lending and structured investments in Europe. He will report to Nat Zilkha and Jamie Weinstein, Co-Heads of Special Situations.
Mukadam was most recently Managing Director at York Capital Management, a USD14 billion multi-strategy hedge fund.
“We are very pleased to have Mubashir join the Special Situations team here in London,” says Zilkha. “Given Mubashir’s strong background in building credit platforms, as well as his investing experience and relationships, we look forward to drawing upon his expertise as we continue to create unique solutions for global businesses and generate strong results for our clients.”
As Managing Director at York Capital Management, Mukadam helped to grow the firm’s European distressed-debt platform, significantly expanding both the scope of its investments and the quality of its trading relationships. Prior to 2008, Mukadam was a Director of Deutsche Bank’s Distressed Products Group, a proprietary and broker-dealer desk in London. In addition to successful credit investments across single assets, loan and liquidation portfolios, he has led restructurings and served on creditor committees.
“This is part of a concerted effort to build out our Special Situations team globally and, with the right resources, we will continue to grow this effort in Europe,” says Zilkha.
Mukadam represents the second senior hire KKR has made recently in the Special Situations business. In September, Jessica Beattie joined the firm’s New York office from Eton Park to focus on secondary distressed and structured investments. Beattie has over ten years of experience investing across the capital structure in public and private markets. Before joining KKR, she worked as a senior analyst on the Event Driven investment team at Eton Park Capital Management. Prior to Eton Park, she was a Partner with R6 Capital Management, which Eton Park acquired to build out its distressed credit business. Previously, she was a Vice President in the Special Situations Group, a proprietary investing portfolio within the fixed income division of Goldman Sachs.
The firm also announced that Nat Zilkha, Co-Head of Special Situations, has relocated to London. He will continue to report to Bill Sonneborn, KKR Member and Head of KKR Asset Management.
“We believe KKR’s solutions-oriented approach to companies, significant operational expertise and focus on stakeholder management are ideally suited to the European distressed and structured finance markets. Nat’s move to London underscores our commitment to building out our Special Situations strategy globally,” said Mr. Sonneborn.
Mr. Zilkha joined KKR in 2007. Prior to KKR, he spent eight years with Goldman Sachs’ Principal Investment Area focused on private equity and principal debt transactions.
Launched by KKR in 2004, KAM invests on behalf of its managed funds, clients and accounts across the corporate credit spectrum, including secured credit, bank loans and high yield securities as well as in equities and alternative assets such as mezzanine financing, distressed investing and structured finance. With more than 100 employees, including 45 investment professionals, KAM’s investment teams are closely aligned with KKR’s wealth of private equity investment and industry resources. As of December 31, 2010, KAM has $14.8 billion in assets under management, of which $7.8 billion is fee-paying.
About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm with $61.0 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010. With 14 offices around the world, KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platforms. KKR is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). For additional information, please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com.
