KKR Co-CEO Joe Bae meets NPS, KIC execs in S.Korea

KKR Co. Co-Chief Executive Joseph Bae made a visit to South Korea last week to meet with senior managers of the country’s top limited partners such as the National Pension Service (NPS) and Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), according to people familiar with the matter on Sunday.

His trip to South Korea is viewed as in line with the firm's aim to strengthen its relationships with institutional investors and boost investments in the country as it is reportedly working on a new several-billion-dollar flagship fund launch later this year.

During a three-day stay in South Korea, the co-head of the private equity giant met with investment managers of the NPS, the world’s third-largest pension scheme with 953.2 trillion won ($753 billion) in assets under management (AUM).

On July 13, he sat down with KIC Chief Executive Jin Seung-ho at KIC'a headquarters in Seoul. The sovereign wealth fund manages $170 billion in assets.

What they discussed was not disclosed, nor which other limited partners Bae met in Seoul.

His visit comes as global PE firms such as EQT Partners, Apollo Global Management and Blackstone are seeking to raise the portion of South Korean LPs’ commitment to their new funds, according to the sources.

KKR, one of the world’s leading private equity firms, is active in Asia's fourth-largest economy. It is increasing hiring for its Seoul office.

Early this year, it purchased privated debts totaling 400 billion won ($316 million) from TY Holdings Co., a holding company of construction-to-media-focused Taeyoung Group.

The investment comes one year after KKR raised $1.1 billion for its first Asia credit fund, KKR Asia Credit Opportunities Fund, the largest such fund focused on Asia.

With $504 billion in AUM, the New York-based PE firm has alao been expanding its real estate and infrastructure portfolio in South Korea.

Bae was named KKR’s co-CEO in 2021, along with Scott Nuttall. He became the second Korean-descendent CEO to lead a global private equity firm after the Carlyle Group’s Kew Lee.

Credited as “the architect of KKR’s expansion in Asia," he spearheaded one of the firm's most profitable exits from South Korea's Oriental Brewery Co., creating $4 billion in capital gains.

KKR bought the beer brand for $1.9 billion from AB InBev in 2009 and sold it back to the Belgium-based brewer for $5.8 billion in 2014.

He also led high-profile carve-out deals for Japanese conglomerates, including Panasonic and Hitachi.

In 2021, his huge salary created a stir in the investment banking field. He received $559.64 million in total annual compensation from KKR, more than double Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy’s $217 million and Intel CEO Patrick Paul Gelsinger’s $178.6 million in the same period.

Born in 1973, Bae immigrated to the US at the age of three with his father, a chemical research scientist, and his mother, a missionary.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree, he landed his first job with Goldman Sachs' proprietary investment division and joined KKR in 1996.

KKR was not reached for comment on Bae’s recent visit to Seoul.

Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu and Ji-Eun Ha at hwahwa@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.