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The US has sued private equity giant KKR, alleging the investment group “systematically flouted” its requirements to provide antitrust regulators and enforcers with standard pre-merger filings during a wave of deals in 2021 and 2022.
The lawsuit comes after lengthy settlement talks between KKR and the Department of Justice where both parties reached an impasse due to the DoJ’s demands for a large monetary penalty and to install an agency monitor inside the New York-based private equity pioneer, according to securities filings and people familiar with the matter.
The lawsuit is one of the last efforts by the DoJ’s antitrust unit to thwart anti-competitive private equity dealmaking after Jonathan Kanter, its recently departed chief, cracked down on buyout groups rolling up large swaths of the American economy.
The enforcement action is being challenged by KKR in a countersuit. The firm, which manages more than $500bn in assets, said the filing omissions were “inconsequential and inadvertent” and characterised the action as an attempt to “weaponize” confusing financial filings on the eve of a leadership transition from President Joe Biden to president-elect Donald Trump.
The DoJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on KKR’s countersuit.
This is a developing story
