KKR reported fourth-quarter revenue of $5.74 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $5.60 billion, but its adjusted earnings per share fell short at $1.18 versus the $1.21 forecast. The firm cited higher carry-related expenses and personnel costs, which increased 12% year-over-year, as the primary drag on near-term profitability. Management noted that performance fees declined sequentially by 8%, reflecting a more challenging exit environment in late 2025, but reaffirmed its disciplined approach to capital deployment across private equity, credit and real assets strategies.

KKR’s total assets under management rose to $488 billion at quarter end, up 16.6% from $418 billion a year earlier. Management fees grew 20.4% year-over-year to $1.2 billion, fueled by strong fundraising in its infrastructure and real assets platforms. Transaction fees contributed an additional $225 million, up 9% sequentially as deal activity picked up in the credit business. Despite rising operating expenses, KKR’s fee-related earnings margin expanded to 34.5%, underscoring the scalability of its fee engine.

In early February KKR announced a definitive agreement to acquire Arctos, a specialty chemicals distributor, for $1.4 billion in cash. The transaction multiples – 11.5 times last twelve months EBITDA of $122 million – reflect KKR’s view on the company’s high-growth end markets in renewables and advanced materials. KKR expects to integrate Arctos with its portfolio company Houghton International, targeting $25 million of annualized cost synergies within 24 months, and to accelerate cross-selling into Asia and Europe.

KKR spearheaded a $10.9 billion consortium to acquire the remaining stake in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, partnering with Singtel and Korean pension funds. The deal values the platform at an enterprise value of $18.3 billion, representing a 14.8% premium to its last transaction valuation in 2023. Post-closing, KKR will hold a 35% interest and plans to deploy an additional $2.5 billion of growth capital into hyperscale facilities across India and Southeast Asia, aiming to double capacity to over 2 million racks by 2028.