KKR & Co. 10-K 2017-12-31
Filed 2018-02-23. 22 sections, 1349K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON
Cover and table of contents
10-K 1 kkr-2017123110xk.htm 10-K
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
ý ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017
or
o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.
For the Transition period from to .
Commission File Number 001-34820
KKR & CO. L.P.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 26-0426107 | |
| (State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
9 West 57th Street, Suite 4200
New York, New York 10019
Telephone: (212) 750-8300
(Address, zip code, and telephone number, including
area code, of registrant's principal executive office.)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Name of each exchange on which registered |
| Common units representing limited partner interests | New York Stock Exchange |
| 6.75% Series A Preferred Units | New York Stock Exchange |
| 6.50% Series B Preferred Units | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý No o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No ý
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter periods that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ý No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S‑K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10‑K or any amendment to this Form 10‑K. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer ý | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer o | Smaller reporting company o | Emerging growth company o | ||||
| (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No ý
The aggregate market value of the common units of the registrant held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2017, was approximately $8.6 billion. As of February 21, 2018, there were 486,800,395 Common Units of the registrant outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
KKR & CO. L.P.
FORM 10-K
For the Year Ended December 31, 2017
INDEX
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believe," "expect," "potential," "continue," "may," "should," "seek," "approximately," "predict," "intend," "will," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," the negative version of these words, other comparable words or other statements that do not relate strictly to historical or factual matters. Without limiting the foregoing, statements regarding the declaration and payment of distributions on common or preferred units of KKR, the timing, manner and volume of repurchases of common units pursuant to a repurchase program, and the expected synergies from acquisitions, reorganizations, or strategic partnerships, may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements or cause the benefits and anticipated synergies from transactions to not be realized. We believe these factors include those described under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in this report. These factors should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this report and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.
In this report, references to "KKR," "we," "us," "our" and "our partnership" refer to KKR & Co. L.P. and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where the context requires otherwise. Prior to KKR & Co. L.P. becoming listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") on July 15, 2010, KKR Group Holdings L.P. ("Group Holdings") consolidated the financial results of KKR Management Holdings L.P. and KKR Fund Holdings L.P. (together, the "KKR Group Partnerships") and their consolidated subsidiaries. On August 5, 2014, KKR International Holdings L.P. became a KKR Group Partnership. Each KKR Group Partnership has an identical number of partner interests and, when held together, one Class A partner interest in each of the KKR Group Partnerships together represents one "KKR Group Partnership Unit." In connection with KKR's issuance of 6.75% Series A Preferred Units ("Series A Preferred Units") and 6.50% Series B Preferred Units ("Series B Preferred Units"), the KKR Group Partnerships issued preferred units with economic terms designed to mirror those of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, respectively.
References to our "Managing Partner" are to KKR Management LLC, which acts as our general partner and unless otherwise indicated, references to equity interests in KKR's business, or to percentage interests in KKR's business, reflect the aggregate equity interests in the KKR Group Partnerships and are net of amounts that have been allocated to our principals and other employees and non-employee operating consultants in respect of the carried interest from KKR's business as part of our "carry pool" and certain minority interests. References to "principals" are to our senior employees and non-employee operating consultants who hold interests in KKR's business through KKR Holdings L.P. ("KKR Holdings") and references to our "senior principals" are to our senior employees who hold interests in our Managing Partner entitling them to vote for the election of its directors.
References to "non-employee operating consultants" include employees of KKR Capstone, who are not employees of KKR. KKR Capstone refers to a group of entities that are owned and controlled by their senior management. KKR Capstone is not a subsidiary or affiliate of KKR. KKR Capstone operates under several consulting agreements with KKR and uses the "KKR" name under license from KKR.
Prior to October 1, 2009, KKR's business was conducted through multiple entities for which there was no single holding entity, but were under common control of senior KKR principals, and in which senior principals and KKR's other principals and individuals held ownership interests (collectively, the "Predecessor Owners"). On October 1, 2009, we completed the acquisition of all of the assets and liabilities of KKR & Co. (Guernsey) L.P. (f/k/a KKR Private Equity Investors, L.P) ("KPE") and, in connection with such acquisition, completed a series of transactions pursuant to which the business of KKR was reorganized into a holding company structure. The reorganization involved a contribution of certain equity interests in KKR's business that were held by the Predecessor Owners to the KKR Group Partnerships in exchange for equity interests in the KKR Group Partnerships held through KKR Holdings. We refer to the acquisition of the assets and liabilities of KPE and to our subsequent reorganization into a holding company structure as the "KPE Transaction."
In this report, the term "GAAP" refers to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We disclose certain financial measures in this report that are calculated and presented using methodologies other than in accordance with GAAP. We believe that providing these performance measures on a supplemental basis to our GAAP results is helpful to unitholders in assessing the overall performance of KKR's businesses. These financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for similar financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, if available. We caution readers that these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the calculations of other investment managers, and as a result, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other investment managers. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, where applicable, are included within Note 14 "Segment Reporting" to our consolidated financial statements and under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Segment Operating and Performance Measures" and "—Segment Balance Sheet."
This report uses the terms assets under management ("AUM"), fee paying assets under management ("FPAUM"), economic net income ("ENI"), fee related earnings ("FRE"), distributable earnings, capital invested, syndicated capital and book value. You should note that our calculations of these financial measures and other financial measures may differ from the calculations of other investment managers and, as a result, our financial measures may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other investment managers. These and other financial measures are defined in the section "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Segment Operating and Performance Measures" and "—Segment Balance Sheet."
References to our "funds" or our "vehicles" refer to investment funds, vehicles and accounts advised, sponsored or managed by one or more subsidiaries of KKR, including collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs") and commercial real estate mortgage-backed securities ("CMBS") vehicles, unless the context requires otherwise. They do not include investment funds, vehicles or accounts of any hedge fund manager with which we have formed a strategic partnership where we have acquired a non-controlling interest.
Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to our fully exchanged and diluted common units outstanding, or to our common units outstanding on a fully exchanged and diluted basis, reflect (i) actual common units outstanding, (ii) common units into which KKR Group Partnership Units not held by us are exchangeable pursuant to the terms of the exchange agreement described in this report, (iii) common units issuable in respect of exchangeable equity securities issued in connection with the acquisition of Avoca Capital ("Avoca"), and (iv) common units issuable pursuant to any equity awards actually granted from the KKR & Co. L.P. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (our "Equity Incentive Plan"). Our fully exchanged and diluted common units outstanding do not include (i) common units available for issuance pursuant to our Equity Incentive Plan for which equity awards have not yet been granted and (ii) common units that we have the option to issue in connection with our acquisition of additional interests in Marshall Wace LLP (together with its affiliates, "Marshall Wace").
PART I
Item 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. We aim to generate attractive investment returns for our fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with our portfolio companies. We invest our own capital alongside the capital we manage for fund investors and provide financing solutions and investment opportunities through our capital markets business.
Our business offers a broad range of investment management services to our fund investors and provides capital markets services to our firm, our portfolio companies and third parties. Throughout our history, we have consistently been a leader in the private equity industry, having completed more than 320 private equity investments in portfolio companies with a total transaction value in excess of $560 billion as of December 31, 2017. We have grown our firm by expanding our geographical presence and building businesses in areas such as leveraged credit, alternative credit, hedge funds, capital markets, infrastructure, energy, real estate, growth equity and core investments. Our balance sheet has provided a significant source of capital in the growth and expansion of our business, and has allowed us to further align our interests with those of our fund investors. These efforts build on our core principles and industry expertise, allowing us to leverage the intellectual capital and synergies in our businesses, and to capitalize on a broader range of the opportunities we source. Additionally, we have increased our focus on meeting the needs of our existing fund investors and in developing relationships with new investors in our funds.
We conduct our business with offices throughout the world, providing us with a pre-eminent global platform for sourcing transactions, raising capital and carrying out capital markets activities. Our growth has been driven by value that we have created through our operationally focused investment approach, the expansion of our existing businesses, our entry into new lines of business, innovation in the products that we offer investors in our funds, an increased focus on providing tailored solutions to our clients and the integration of capital markets distribution activities.
As a global investment firm, we earn management, monitoring, transaction and incentive fees and carried interest for providing investment management, monitoring and other services to our funds, vehicles, CLOs, managed accounts and portfolio companies, and we generate transaction-specific income from capital markets transactions. We earn additional investment income from investing our own capital alongside that of our fund investors, from other assets on our balance sheet and from the carried interest we receive from our funds and certain of our other investment vehicles. A carried interest entitles the sponsor of a fund to a specified percentage of investment gains that are generated on third-party capital that is invested.
Our investment teams have deep industry knowledge and are supported by a substantial and diversified capital base, an integrated global investment platform, the expertise of operating consultants, senior advisors and other advisors and a worldwide network of business relationships that provide a significant source of investment opportunities, specialized knowledge during due diligence and substantial resources for creating and realizing value for stakeholders. These teams invest capital, a substantial portion of which is of a long duration and not subject to redemption. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 77% of our fee paying assets under management are not subject to redemption for at least 8 years from inception, providing us with significant flexibility to grow investments and select exit opportunities. We believe that these aspects of our business will help us continue to expand and grow our business and deliver strong investment performance in a variety of economic and financial conditions.
Our Firm
With offices around the world, we have established ourselves as a leading global investment firm. We have multilingual and multicultural investment teams with local market knowledge and significant business, investment, and operational experience in the countries in which we invest. We believe that our global capabilities have helped us to raise capital, capture a greater number of investment opportunities, and assist our portfolio companies in their increasing reliance on global markets and sourcing, while enabling us to diversify our operations.
Though our operations span multiple continents and asset classes, our investment professionals are supported by an integrated infrastructure and operate under a common set of principles and business practices that are monitored by a variety of committees. The firm operates with a single culture that rewards investment discipline, creativity, determination and patience
and emphasizes the sharing of information, resources, expertise and best practices across offices and asset classes. When appropriate, we staff transactions across multiple offices and businesses in order to take advantage of the industry-specific expertise of our investment professionals, and we hold regular meetings in which investment professionals throughout our offices share their knowledge and experiences. We believe that the ability to draw on the local cultural fluency of our investment professionals while maintaining a centralized and integrated global infrastructure distinguishes us from other investment firms and has been a substantial contributing factor to our ability to raise funds, invest internationally and expand our businesses.
Since our inception, one of our fundamental philosophies has been to align the interests of the firm and our principals with the interests of our fund investors, portfolio companies and other stakeholders. We achieve this by putting our own capital behind our ideas. As of December 31, 2017, we and our employees and other personnel have approximately $16.9 billion invested in or committed to our own funds and portfolio companies, including $8.4 billion funded from our balance sheet, $5.7 billion of additional commitments from our balance sheet to investment funds, $1.8 billion funded from personal investments and $1.0 billion of additional commitments from personal investments.
Our Business
Our Segments
We operate our business in four segments: (1) Private Markets, (2) Public Markets, (3) Capital Markets and (4) Principal Activities. Information about our segments below should be read together with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report.
Private Markets
Through our Private Markets segment, we manage and sponsor a group of private equity funds that invest capital for long-term appreciation, either through controlling ownership of a company or strategic minority positions. In addition to our traditional private equity funds, we sponsor investment funds that invest in growth equity and core equity investments. We also manage and sponsor investment funds that invest capital in real assets, such as infrastructure, energy and real estate. Our Private Markets segment includes separately managed accounts that invest in multiple strategies, which may include our credit strategies as well as our private equity and real assets strategies. These funds and accounts are managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., an SEC-registered investment adviser. As of December 31, 2017, the segment had $97.5 billion of AUM and FPAUM of $61.7 billion, consisting of $46.0 billion in private equity (including growth equity) and $15.7 billion i
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investing in our securities involves risk. Persons investing in our securities should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information contained in this report and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC, including our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could also be materially and adversely affected by additional factors that apply to all companies generally, as well as other risks that are not currently known to us or that we currently view to be immaterial. In any such case, the trading price of our securities could decline and you may lose all or part of your original investment. While we attempt to mitigate known risks to the extent we believe to be practicable and reasonable, we can provide no assurance, and we make no representation, that our mitigation efforts will be successful.
Risks Related to Our Business
Difficult market and economic conditions can adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the value or performance of the investments that we manage or by reducing the ability of our funds to raise or deploy capital, each of which could negatively impact our net income and cash flow and adversely affect our financial prospects and condition.
Our business and the businesses of the companies in which we invest are materially affected by financial markets and economic conditions or events throughout the world, such as interest rates, availability of credit, inflation rates, economic uncertainty, changes in laws (including laws relating to taxation), trade barriers, commodity prices, currency exchange rates and controls and national and international political circumstances (including wars, terrorist acts or security operations). For example, the unprecedented turmoil in the global financial markets during 2008 and 2009 provoked significant volatility of securities prices, contraction in the availability of credit and the failure of a number of companies, including leading financing institutions, and had a material adverse effect on our businesses and the businesses of the companies in which we invest. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Business Environment" for a discussion of recent developments in market and business conditions that may affect our business.
Such financial markets and economic conditions are outside our control and may affect the level and volatility of securities prices and liquidity and as a result, the value of our investments and our financial results. In addition, we may not be able to or may choose not to manage our exposure to these conditions and/or events. If not otherwise offset, declines in the equity, commodity and debt in the markets would likely cause us to write down our investments and the investments of our funds. For example, during the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, valuations of our private equity funds declined across all geographies, with investments in private equity funds marked down to as low as 67% of original cost and multiples of invested capital reaching as low as 0.5x, 0.6x, 0.7x and 0.8x for the European Fund II, European Fund III, 2006 Fund and Asian Fund, respectively, as of March 31, 2009. Our profitability may also be materially and adversely affected by our fixed costs and the possibility that we would be unable to scale back other costs within a time frame sufficient to match any decreases in net income relating to a downturn in market and economic conditions.
Unfavorable market and economic conditions may reduce opportunities for our funds to make, exit and realize value from their investments. Challenging market and economic conditions, including those caused by changes in tax laws and other regulatory restrictions, may make it difficult for us to find suitable investments for our funds or secure financing for
investments on attractive terms. Such conditions may also result in reduced opportunities for our funds to exit and realize value from their existing investments and lower-than-expected returns on existing investments. Although the equity markets are not the only means by which we exit investments, in challenging equity markets, our funds may experience greater difficulty in realizing value from investments. In addition, when financing is not available or becomes too costly, it is difficult for potential buyers to raise sufficient capital to purchase our funds' investments. Consequently, we may earn lower-than-expected returns on investments, which could cause us to realize diminished or no carried interest.
We generally raise capital for a successor fund following the substantial and successful deployment of capital from the existing fund. In the event of poor performance by existing funds, our ability to raise new funds is impaired. During periods of unfavorable fundraising conditions, fund investors may negotiate for lower fees, different fee sharing arrangements for transaction or other fees, and other concessions. The outcome of such negotiations could result in our agreement to terms that are materially less favorable to us than for prior funds we have managed. Our current funds, including all our recent private equity funds, have performance hurdles, which require us to generate a specified return on investment prior to our right to receive carried interest. This requirement will likely be in all our future funds, and the hurdle rate could increase for our future funds. In addition, successor funds raised by us when such unfavorable circumstances described above exist would also likely result in smaller funds than our comparable predecessor funds. Fund investors may also seek to redeploy capital away from certain of our credit or other non-private equity investment vehicles, which permit redemptions on relatively short notice, in order to meet liquidity needs or invest in other asset classes or with other managers. Any of these developments could materially and adversely affect our future revenues, net income, cash flow, financial condition or ability to retain our employees. See "—Our inability to raise additional or successor funds (or raise successor funds of a comparable size as our predecessor funds) could have a material adverse impact on our business" and "—Our investors in future funds may negotiate to pay us lower management fees, reimburse us for fewer expenses or change the economic terms of our future funds, including with respect to transaction fees, management fees or monitoring fees, to be less favorable to us than those of our existing funds, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues or profitability."
During periods of difficult market or economic conditions or slowdowns (which may occur across one or more industries, sectors or geographies), companies in which we have invested may experience decreased revenues, financial losses, credit rating downgrades, difficulty in obtaining access to financing and increased funding costs. These companies may also have difficulty in expanding their businesses and operations or be unable to meet their debt service obligations or pay other expenses as they become due, including amounts payable to us. Negative financial results in our funds' portfolio companies may result in lower investment returns for our investment funds, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results and cash flow. To the extent the operating performance of such portfolio companies (as well as valuation multiples) deteriorate or do not improve, our funds may sell those assets at values that are less than we projected or even at a loss, thereby significantly affecting those funds' performance and consequently our operating results and cash flow and resulting in lower or no carrie
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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal executive offices are located in leased office space at 9 West 57th Street, New York, New York. We also lease space for our other offices. We consider these facilities to be suitable and adequate for the management and operations of our business.
On October 29, 2015, we entered into agreements relating to the construction and development of office space at 30 Hudson Yards in New York, New York to serve as our new corporate headquarters beginning in 2020. Upon the satisfaction of the conditions specified in the development agreement, we will take delivery of the completed office space.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
The section entitled "Litigation" appearing in Note 17 "Commitments and Contingencies" to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Our common units representing limited partner interests began trading on the NYSE on July 15, 2010 and are traded under the symbol "KKR." The following table sets forth the high and low intra-day sales prices per unit of our common units, for the periods indicated, as reported by the NYSE.
| Sales price | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||||||
| High | Low | High | Low | ||||||||||||
| First Quarter | $ | 18.43 | $ | 15.83 | $ | 15.97 | $ | 10.89 | |||||||
| Second Quarter | $ | 19.11 | $ | 16.86 | $ | 15.11 | $ | 11.90 | |||||||
| Third Quarter | $ | 20.33 | $ | 18.03 | $ | 15.43 | $ | 11.63 | |||||||
| Fourth Quarter | $ | 21.18 | $ | 19.19 | $ | 17.57 | $ | 13.58 |
The number of holders of record of our common units as of February 21, 2018 was 35. This does not include the number of unitholders that hold shares in "street-name" through banks or broker-dealers.
Distribution Policy
The following table presents the distributions paid to holders of our common units at the close of business on the specified record date during fiscal years 2016 and 2017:
| Payment Date | Record Date | Distribution per unit | ||
| March 8, 2016 | February 22, 2016 | $0.16 | ||
| May 19, 2016 | May 5, 2016 | $0.16 | ||
| August 19, 2016 | August 5, 2016 | $0.16 | ||
| November 22, 2016 | November 4, 2016 | $0.16 | ||
| March 7, 2017 | February 21, 2017 | $0.16 | ||
| May 23, 2017 | May 8, 2017 | $0.17 | ||
| August 22, 2017 | August 7, 2017 | $0.17 | ||
| November 21, 2017 | November 6, 2017 | $0.17 |
Under its distribution policy for common units, KKR intends to make equal quarterly distributions to holders of its common units. KKR's regular distribution per common unit of $0.17 was declared on February 8, 2018 for the quarter ended December 31, 2017.
Because we make our investment in our business through a holding company structure and the applicable holding companies do not own any material cash-generating assets other than their direct and indirect holdings in KKR Group Partnership Units, distributions are expected to be funded in the following manner:
| • | First, the KKR Group Partnerships will make distributions to holders of KKR Group Partnership Units, including the holding companies through which we invest, in proportion to their percentage interests in the KKR Group Partnerships; |
| • | Second, the holding companies through which we invest will distribute to us the amount of any distributions that they receive from the KKR Group Partnerships, after deducting any applicable taxes; and |
| • | Third, we will distribute to holders of our units the amount of distributions declared by the board of directors of our Managing Partner from the distributions that we receive from our holding companies through which we invest. |
The limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships provide for cash distributions, which are referred to as "tax distributions," to the partners of such partnerships if we determine that the taxable income of the relevant partnership will give rise to taxable income for its partners. However, holders should not expect the KKR Group Partnerships will make any tax distributions, and there can be no assurance that, for any particular holder, our distributions will be sufficient to pay such holder's actual U.S. or non-U.S. tax liability.
The declaration and payment of any distributions are subject to the discretion of the board of directors of our Managing Partner, which may change the distribution policy at any time or from time to time, and the terms of its limited partnership agreement. There can be no assurance that distributions will be made as intended or at all, that unitholders will receive sufficient distributions to satisfy payment of their tax liabilities as limited partners of KKR & Co. L.P. or that any particular distribution policy will be maintained. When KKR & Co. L.P. receives distributions from the KKR Group Partnerships (the holding companies of the KKR business), KKR Holdings receives its pro rata share of such distributions from the KKR Group Partnerships. Furthermore, the declaration and payment of distributions is subject to legal, contractual and regulatory restrictions on the payment of distributions by us or our subsidiaries, including restrictions contained in our debt agreements and the terms of our preferred units, and such other factors as the board of directors of our Managing Partner considers relevant including, among others: our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, including funding of investment commitments and debt service and future debt repayment obligations; general economic and business conditions; our strategic plans and prospects; our results of operations and financial condition; and our capital requirements. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity—Sources of Cash." In addition, under Section 17-607 of the Delaware Limited Partnership Act, we will not be permitted to make a distribution if, after giving effect to the distribution, our liabilities would exceed the fair value of our assets.
Common Unit Repurchases in the Fourth Quarter of 2017
As announced on October 27, 2015 and amended on February 9, 2017, KKR is authorized to repurchase up to $750 million in the aggregate of its outstanding common units. Under this unit repurchase program, units may be repurchased from time to time in open market transactions, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise. The timing, manner, price and amount of any unit repurchases will be determined by KKR in its discretion and will depend on a variety of factors, including legal requirements, price and economic and market conditions. KKR expects that the program, which has no expiration date, will be in effect until the maximum approved dollar amount has been used to repurchase common units. The program does not require KKR to repurchase any specific number of common units, and the program may be suspended, extended, modified or discontinued at any time.
The table below sets forth the information with respect to repurchases made by or on behalf of KKR & Co. L.P. or any "affiliated purchaser" (as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Exchange Act) of our common units during the fourth quarter of 2017. No common units were repurchased during the fourth quarter of 2017 or from January 1, 2018 to February 21, 2018. From inception of the repurchase program through February 21, 2018, we had repurchased a total of approximately 31.7 million common units under the program at an average price of approximately $14.47 per unit.
| Issuer Purchases of Common Units | |||||||||||||
| (amounts in thousands, except unit and per unit amounts) | |||||||||||||
| Total Number of Units Purchased | Average Price Paid Per Units | Cumulative Number of Units Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | Approximate Dollar Value of Units that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs | ||||||||||
| Month #1 (October 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017) | — | $ | — | 31,674,162 | $ | 291,225 | |||||||
| Month #2 (November 1, 2017 to November 30, 2017) | — | $ | — | 31,674,162 | $ | 291,225 | |||||||
| Month #3 (December 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017) | — | $ | — | 31,674,162 | $ | 291,225 | |||||||
| Total through December 31, 2017 | — | ||||||||||||
| Purchases subsequent to December 31, 2017: | |||||||||||||
| (January 1, 2018 to February 21, 2018) | — | $ | — | 31,674,162 | $ | 291,225 | |||||||
| Total through February 21, 2018 | — | ||||||||||||
In addition to the repurchases of common units, (1) cash may be used to pay the amount of withholding taxes, social benefit payments or similar payments payable by KKR in respect of awards granted pursuant to our Equity Incentive Plan and (2) cash may be delivered in respect of certain awards granted pursuant to our Equity Incentive Plan and other exchangeable securities issued in connection with the acquisition of Avoca. During 2017, KKR paid $58.0 million in cash in lieu of issuing common units upon the vesting of equity awards representing 3.1 million common units to satisfy tax withholding and cash-settlement obligations. Since October 27, 2015, KKR has paid $137.0 million in cash in lieu of issuing common units upon the vesting of equity awards representing 8.2 million common units to satisfy tax withholding and cash-settlement obligations.
Unregistered Sale of Equity Securities
During the fourth quarter of 2017, 5,562,665 KKR Group Partnership Units were exchanged by (i) KKR Holdings and (ii) holders of other exchangeable securities issued in connection with the acquisition of Avoca for an equal number of our common units. This resulted in an increase in our ownership of the KKR Group Partnerships and a corresponding decrease in the ownership of the KKR Group Partnerships by KKR Holdings and the other exchangeable security holders. From January 1, 2018 to February 21, 2018, an additional 630,578 common units were issued to one or more holders of other exchangeable securities issued in connection with the acquisition of Avoca. These private transactions were exempt from registration in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
On November 30, 2017, KKR acquired an additional 5.0% interest in Marshall Wace after the exercise of one of the options agreed to between Marshall Wace and KKR. As partial consideration, KKR issued 4,727,966 common units to affiliates of Marshall Wace in a private transaction exempt from registration in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Item 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following tables set forth our selected historical consolidated financial data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. We derived the selected historical consolidated financial data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 and for the years ending December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. We derived the selected historical consolidated financial data as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 and for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 from our audited consolidated financial statements which are not included in this report. You should read the following data together with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report.
On January 1, 2016, KKR adopted ASU No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis ("ASU 2015-02"), which resulted in the de-consolidation of most of KKR's investment funds that had been consolidated prior to such date. Effective with the adoption of ASU 2015-02, assets, liabilities, and noncontrolling interests from our investment funds that had previously been consolidated are no longer included in the statement of financial condition. Additionally, when an investment fund is consolidated, management fees, fee credits and carried interest earned from consolidated funds are eliminated in consolidation and as such are not recorded in Fees and Other. The economic impact of these management fees, fee credits and carried interests that are eliminated is reflected as an adjustment to noncontrolling interests and has no impact to Net Income Attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. KKR adopted this guidance using the modified retrospective method. As a result, no retrospective adjustment is required and prior periods presented under GAAP have not been impacted.
| For the Years Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| (all dollars are in thousands, except unit and per unit data) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Statements of Operations Data: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fees and Other | $ | 3,282,265 | $ | 1,908,093 | $ | 1,043,768 | $ | 1,110,008 | $ | 762,546 | |||||||||
| Less: Total Expenses | 2,336,692 | 1,695,474 | 1,871,225 | 2,196,067 | 1,767,138 | ||||||||||||||
| Total Investment Income (Loss) | 1,838,795 | 762,606 | 6,169,125 | 6,544,748 | 8,896,746 | ||||||||||||||
| Income (Loss) Before Taxes | 2,784,368 | 975,225 | 5,341,668 | 5,458,689 | 7,892,154 | ||||||||||||||
| Income Taxes | 224,326 | 24,561 | 66,636 | 63,669 | 37,926 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | 2,560,042 | 950,664 | 5,275,032 | 5,395,020 | 7,854,228 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests | 73,972 | (8,476 | ) | (4,512 | ) | (3,341 | ) | 62,255 | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests and Appropriated Capital | 1,467,765 | 649,833 | 4,791,062 | 4,920,750 | 7,100,747 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. | 1,018,305 | 309,307 | 488,482 | 477,611 | 691,226 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income Attributable to Series A Preferred Unitholders | 23,288 | 17,337 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income Attributable to Series B Preferred Unitholders | 10,076 | 4,898 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. Common Unitholders | $ | 984,941 | $ | 287,072 | $ | 488,482 | $ | 477,611 | $ | 691,226 | |||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. Per Common Unit | |||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 2.10 | $ | 0.64 | $ | 1.09 | $ | 1.25 | $ | 2.51 | |||||||||
| Diluted | $ | 1.95 | $ | 0.59 | $ | 1.01 | $ | 1.16 | $ | 2.30 | |||||||||
| Weighted Average Common Units Outstanding | |||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 468,282,642 | 448,905,126 | 448,884,185 | 381,092,394 | 274,910,628 | ||||||||||||||
| Diluted | 506,288,971 | 483,431,048 | 482,699,194 | 412,049,275 | 300,254,090 |
| As of December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| (all dollars are in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Statements of Financial Condition Data (period end): | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | $ | 45,834,719 | $ | 39,002,897 | $ | 71,042,339 | $ | 65,872,745 | $ | 51,427,201 | |||||||||
| Total Liabilities | $ | 25,171,919 | $ | 21,884,814 | $ | 21,574,754 | $ | 14,168,684 | $ | 4,842,383 | |||||||||
| Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests | $ | 610,540 | $ | 632,348 | $ | 188,629 | $ | 300,098 | $ | 627,807 | |||||||||
| Noncontrolling Interests | $ | 12,866,324 | $ | 10,545,902 | $ | 43,731,774 | $ | 46,004,377 | $ | 43,235,001 | |||||||||
| Appropriated Capital | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 16,895 | $ | — | |||||||||
| Total KKR & Co. L.P. Partners' Capital (1) | $ | 7,185,936 | $ | 5,939,833 | $ | 5,547,182 | $ | 5,382,691 | $ | 2,722,010 | |||||||||
| (1) | Total KKR & Co. L.P. partners' capital (including Series A and B preferred partners' capital) reflects only the portion of equity attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. (59.1% interest in the KKR Group Partnerships as of December 31, 2017) and differs from book value reported on a segment basis primarily as a result of the exclusion of the equity impact of KKR Management Holdings Corp. and allocations of equity to KKR Holdings. KKR Holdings' 40.9% interest in the KKR Group Partnerships as of December 31, 2017 is reflected as noncontrolling interests and is not included in total KKR & Co. L.P. partners' capital. | |||
Item 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of KKR & Co. L.P. and the related notes included elsewhere in this report. The historical consolidated financial data discussed below reflects the historical results and financial position of KKR. In addition, this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements and involves numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described under "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements" and "Risk Factors." Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
Overview of Business
For a discussion about our businesses, business segments and our firm, see "Item 1. Business."
Business Environment
Economic and Market Conditions
Economic Conditions. As a global investment firm, we are affected by financial and economic conditions globally. Global and regional economic conditions have a substantial impact on our financial condition and results of operations, impacting the values of the investments we make, our ability to exit these investments profitably, our ability to raise capital from investors and our ability to make new investments. Financial and economic conditions in the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and other major economies are significant contributors to the global economy.
As of December 31, 2017, the United States appears to be experiencing growth and signs of rising inflation, and the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to continue to raise its benchmark interest rate and reduce its balance sheet. In the United States, real GDP growth was 2.3% for the full year ended December 31, 2017, compared to 1.5% in the prior year; the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1% as of December 31, 2017, down from 4.7% as of December 31, 2016; U.S. core consumer price index inflation was 1.8% on a year-over-year basis as of December 31, 2017, down from 2.2% on a year-over-year basis as of December 31, 2016; and the effective federal funds rate set by the U.S. Federal Reserve was 1.3% as of December 31, 2017, up from 0.7% as of December 31, 2016.
As of December 31, 2017, the European Union appears to be experiencing growth with the expectation of rising inflation, and the European Central Bank is expected to taper its quantitative easing program in the near future. In the Euro Area, real GDP growth is estimated to be 2.4% for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to 1.8% in the prior year; the Euro Area unemployment rate was 8.7% as of December 31, 2017, down from 9.7% as of December 31, 2016; Euro Area core inflation was 0.9% on a year-over-year basis as of December 31, 2017, flat compared to the prior year as of December 31, 2016; and the short-term benchmark interest rate set by the European Central Bank was 0.0% as of December 31, 2017, flat from 0.0% as of December 31, 2016. In addition, in March 2017, the United Kingdom triggered Article 50 to formally begin the process to exit from the European Union, which could, among other outcomes, significantly disrupt trade and the free movement of goods, services and people between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
As of December 31, 2017, the Bank of Japan is expected to continue its quantitative easing program, and the Chinese economy appears to be slowing slightly against the backdrop of certain economic reforms. In Japan, the short-term benchmark interest rate set by the Bank of Japan was -0.1% as of December 31, 2017 as compared to -0.1% as of December 31, 2016; and in China, reported real GDP was 6.9% in the year ended December 31, 2017, above the 6.7% reported for the year ended December 31, 2016.
These and other key issues could have repercussions across regional and global financial markets, which could adversely affect the valuations of our investments. Other key issues include (i) political uncertainty caused by, among other things, populist political parties and economic nationalist sentiments, (ii) regulatory changes regarding, for example, taxation, international trade, cross-border investments, immigration, and austerity programs, and (iii) increased volatility as the U.S. Federal Reserve potentially raises interest rates more frequently and/or in larger increments than in previous years and (iv) technological advancements and innovations that may disrupt marketplaces and businesses. For a further discussion of how market conditions may affect our businesses, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Difficult market and economic conditions can adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the value or performance of the investments that we manage or by reducing the ability of our funds to raise or deploy capital, each of which could negatively impact our net income and cash flow and adversely affect our financial condition."
Equity and Credit Markets. Global equity and credit markets have a substantial effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In general, a climate of reasonable interest rates and high levels of liquidity in the debt and equity capital markets provide a positive environment for us to generate attractive investment returns, which also impacts our ability to generate incentive fees and carried interest. Periods of volatility and dislocation in the capital markets present substantial risks, but also can present us with opportunities to invest at reduced valuations that position us for future growth and investment returns. Low interest rates related to monetary stimulus and economic stagnation may negatively impact expected returns on all types of investments. Higher interest rates in conjunction with slower growth or weaker currencies in some emerging market economies have caused, and may further cause, the default risk of these countries to increase, and this could impact the operations or value of our investments that operate in these regions. Areas such as the Eurozone and Japan, which have ongoing central bank quantitative easing campaigns and comparatively low interest rates relative to the United States, could potentially experience further currency volatility and weakness relative to the U.S. dollar.
Many of our investments are in equities, so a change in global equity prices or in market volatility directly impacts the value of our investments and our profitability as well as our ability to realize investment gains and the receptiveness of fund investors to our investment products. For the year ended December 31, 2017, global equity markets were positive, with the S&P 500 Index up 21.8% and the MSCI World Index up 23.1% on a total return basis including dividends. Equity market volatility as evidenced by the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index (the "VIX"), a measure of volatility, ended at 11.0 as of December 31, 2017, decreasing from 14.0 as of December 31, 2016. For a discussion of our valuation methods, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Assets We Manage—Our investments are impacted by various economic conditions that are difficult to quantify or predict, which may have a significant impact on the valuation of our investments and, therefore, on the investment income we realize and our results of operations and financial condition" and "—Critical Accounting Policies—Fair Value Measurements—Level III Valuation Methodologies."
Many of our investments are also in non-investment grade credit instruments, and our funds and our portfolio companies also rely on credit financing and the ability to refinance existing debt. Consequently, any decrease in the value of credit instruments that we have invested in or any increase in the cost of credit financing reduces our returns and decreases our net income. In particular due in part to holdings of credit instruments such as CLOs on our balance sheet, the performance of the credit markets has had an amplified impact on our financial results, as we directly bear the full
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Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Our exposure to market risks primarily relates to movements in the fair value of investments, including the effect that those movements have on our management fees, carried interest and net gains from investment activities. The fair value of investments may fluctuate in response to changes in the values of investments, foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. Additionally, interest rate movements can adversely impact the amount of interest income we receive on credit instruments bearing variable rates and could also impact the amount of interest that we pay on debt obligations bearing variable rates.
The quantitative information provided in this section was prepared using estimates and assumptions that management believes are appropriate in order to provide a reader with an indication of the directional impact that a hypothetical adverse movement in certain risks would have on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. In all cases, these directional impacts are presented after deducting amounts that are attributable to noncontrolling interests held by KKR Holdings. As of December 31, 2017, KKR & Co. L.P. and KKR Holdings held interests in our business of 59.1% and 40.9%, respectively. The actual impact of a hypothetical adverse movement in these risks could be materially different from the amounts shown below.
The firm uses various committees to help manage market risk and general business risks.
Management of Market Risk
When we commit capital of a certain amount from our balance sheet to investments or transactions, a balance sheet committee of senior employees, including our two Co-Chief Executive Officers, a Co-President/Co-Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, must approve the investment or transaction before it may be made. The committee may delegate authority to other employees subject to maximum commitment sizes or other limitations determined by the committee. In addition, this committee supervises activities governing KKR's capital structure, liquidity, and the composition of our balance sheet.
Certain securities transactions by our capital markets business are subject to risk tolerance limits, regulatory capital requirements and the review and approval of one or more committees in compliance with rules applicable to broker-dealers pursuant to the Exchange Act. When our capital is committed to capital markets transactions, after diligence is conducted, such transactions are subject to the review and approval of a capital markets underwriting committee. These transactions are also subject to risk tolerance limits. The risk tolerance limits establish the level of investment we may make in a single company or type of transaction, for example, and are designed to avoid undue concentration and risk exposure. Regulatory capital requirements also place limits on the size of securities underwritings the capital markets business can conduct based on quantitative measure of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance-sheet items. Aggregate balance sheet risk and capital deployed for transactions are monitored on an ongoing basis by the balance sheet committee referenced above.
With respect to the funds and other investment vehicles through which we make investments for our fund investors, KKR manages risk by subjecting transactions to the review and approval of an applicable investment committee, and then a portfolio management committee (or other designated senior employees) regularly monitors these investments. Before making an investment, investment professionals identify risks in due diligence, evaluating, among other things, business, financial, legal and regulatory issues, financial data and other information. An investment team presents the investment and its identified risks to an investment committee, which must approve each investment before it may be made. If an investment is made, a portfolio management committee (or other designated senior employees) is responsible for working with our investment professionals to monitor the investment on an ongoing basis.
Management of General Business Risk
KKR has an investment management and distribution committee comprised of senior employees across our business lines, and includes our Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers. The investment management and distribution committee focuses on coordinating investment and distribution activities across the firm. KKR has a risk and operations committee comprised of senior employees from across our business operations, and includes our Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. The risk and operations committee focuses on KKR's operations and enterprise risk management.
KKR's global conflicts and compliance committee is responsible for analyzing and addressing new or potential conflicts of interest that may arise in KKR's business, including conflicts relating to specific transactions as well as potential conflicts involving the overall activities of KKR and its various businesses. This committee also reviews and monitors certain
compliance matters. Our Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer are included as members of this committee.
Changes in Fair Value
The majority of our investments are reported at fair value. Net changes in the fair value of investments impact the net gains (losses) from investment activities in our consolidated statements of operations. Based on investments held as of December 31, 2017, we estimate that an immediate 10% decrease in the fair value of investments generally would result in a commensurate change in the amount of net gains (losses) from investment activities (except that carried interest would likely be more significantly impacted), regardless of whether the investment was valued using observable market prices or management estimates with significant unobservable pricing inputs. The impact that the consequential decrease in investment income would have on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. would generally be significantly less than the amount described above, given that a significant portion of the change in fair value would be attributable to noncontrolling interests and therefore we are only impacted to the extent of our carried interest and our balance sheet investments and to a lesser extent our management fees. Because of this, the quantitative information that follows represents the impact that a reduction to each of the income streams shown below would have on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. before income taxes. The actual impact to individual line items within the consolidated statements of operations would differ from the amounts shown below as a result of (i) the inclusion of amounts attributable to KKR Holdings in individual line items within the consolidated statement of operations, (ii) the elimination of management fees and carried interest and (iii) the gross-up of net gains (losses) from investment activities, in each case as a result of the consolidation of certain investment funds and CFEs.
Based on the fair value of investments as of December 31, 2017, we estimate that an immediate, hypothetical 10% decline in the fair value of investments would result in declines in net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. before income taxes in 2018 from reductions in the following items, if not offset by other factors:
| Year Ended December 31, 2017 | |||||||||||||
| Management fees | Carried Interest, Net of Carry Pool Allocation | Net Gains/(Losses) From Investment Activities Excluding Carried Interest | |||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||
| 10% Decline in Fair Value of Investments (1) | $ | 12,301 | (2) | $ | 295,509 | (3) | $ | 501,931 | (3) | ||||
| (1) | An immediate, hypothetical 10% decline in the fair value of investments would also impact our ability to earn incentive fees. Since the majority of our incentive fees are earned at December 31st or June 30th of each calendar year and are not subject to clawback, a 10% decline in fair value would generally result in the recognition of no incentive fees on a prospective basis and result in lower net income relative to prior years where such incentive fees may have been earned. | ||||||||||||
| (2) | Represents an annualized reduction in management fees. | ||||||||||||
| (3) | Decrease would impact our statement of operations in a single quarter. With respect to carried interest, for purposes of this analysis the impact of preferred returns are ignored. |
Management Fees
Our management fees in our Private Markets investment funds are generally calculated based on the amount of capital committed or invested by a fund, as described under "Business—Our Segments—Private Markets." Accordingly, movements in the fair value of investments do not significantly affect the amount of fees we may charge in Private Markets funds. Management fees in our infrastructure funds are calculated based on NAV of the fund and, in some cases, we additionally earn management fees on the fund's remaining commitment.
In the case of our Public Markets business, management fees are often calculated based on the average NAV of the fund for that particular period, although certain funds in our Public Markets segment have management fees based on the amount of capital invested. In the case of our CLO vehicles, management fees are calculated based on the collateral of the vehicle. The collateral is based on the par value of the investments and cash on hand.
To the extent that management fees are calculated based on the NAV of the fund's investments, the amount of fees that we may charge will be increased or decreased in direct proportion to the effect of changes in the fair value of the fund's investments. The proportion of our management fees that are based on NAV depends on the number and type of funds in
existence. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the fund management fees that were recognized based on the NAV of the applicable funds was approximately 23%.
Publicly Traded Securities
Our investment funds and KKR's balance sheet hold certain investments in portfolio companies whose securities are publicly traded. The market prices of securities may be volatile and are likely to fluctuate due to a number of factors beyond our control. These factors include actual or anticipated fluctuations in the quarterly and annual results of such companies or of other companies in the industries in which they operate, market perceptions concerning the availability of additional securities for sale, general economic, social or political developments, industry conditions, changes in government regulation, shortfalls in operating results from levels forecasted by securities analysts, the general state of the securities markets and other material events, such as significant management changes, re-financings, acquisitions and dispositions. In addition, although a substantial portion of our investments are comprised of investments in portfolio companies whose securities are not publicly traded, the value of these privately held investments may also fluctuate as our Level III investments are valued in part using a market comparables analysis. Consequently due to similar factors beyond our control as described above for portfolio companies whose securities are publicly traded, the value of these Level III investments may fluctuate with market prices. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Business Environment."
Exchange Rate Risk
Our investment funds, CLO vehicles and KKR's balance sheet hold investments denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Those investments expose us and our fund investors to the risk that the value of the investments will be affected by changes in exchange rates between the currency in which the investments are denominated and the currency in which the investments are made. Additionally, a portion of our management fees are denominated in non-U.S. dollar currencies. Our policy is to minimize these risks by employing hedging techniques, including using foreign currency options and foreign exchange forward contracts to reduce exposure to future changes in exchange rates when a meaningful amount of capital has been invested in currencies other than the currencies in which the investments are denominated.
Our primary exposure to exchange rate risk relates to movements in the value of exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies in which our investments are denominated (including euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, among others), net of the impact of foreign exchange hedging strategies. The quantitative information that follows represents the impact that a reduction to each of the income streams shown below would have on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. before income taxes. The actual impact to individual line items within the statements of operations would differ from the amounts shown below as a result of (i) the inclusion of amounts attributable to KKR Holdings in individual line items within the consolidated statement of operations, (ii) the elimination of management fees and carried interest and (iii) the gross-up of net gains (losses) from investment activities, in each case as a result of the consolidation of certain investment funds and CLO vehicles.
We estimate that an immediate, hypothetical 10% decline in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and all of the major foreign currencies in which our investments were denominated as of December 31, 2017 (i.e. an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar against these foreign currencies) would result in declines in net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. before income taxes in 2018 from reductions in the following items, net of the impact of foreign exchange hedging strategies, if not offset by other factors:
| Year Ended December 31, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Carried Interest, Net of Carry Pool Allocation | Net Gains/(Losses) From Investment Activities Excluding Carried Interest | |||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | ||||||||||
| 10% Decline in Foreign Currencies Against the U.S. Dollar (1) | $ | 44,286 | (2) | $ | 49,812 | (2) | ||||
| (1) | An immediate, hypothetical 10% decline in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and all of the major foreign currencies in which our investments were denominated would only marginally impact our ability to earn incentive fees since the majority of our funds in which we are entitled to earn incentive fees are denominated in U.S. dollars. Additionally, the impact on our management fees that are denominated in non-US dollar currencies considering the impact of foreign exchange hedging strategies employed would not be expected to be material. | |||||||||
| (2) | Decrease would impact our statement of operations in a single quarter. With respect to carried interest, for purposes of this analysis the impact of preferred returns are ignored. | |||||||||
Interest Rate Risk
Valuation of Investments
Changes in credit markets and in particular, interest rates, can impact investment valuations, particularly our Level III investments, and may have offsetting results depending on the valuation methodology used. For example, we typically use a discounted cash flow analysis as one of the methodologies to ascertain the fair value of our investments that do not have readily observable market prices. If applicable interest rates rise, then the assumed cost of capital for those portfolio companies would be expected to increase under the discounted cash flow analysis, and this effect would negatively impact their valuations if not offset by other factors. Conversely, a fall in interest rates can positively impact valuations of certain portfolio companies if not offset by other factors. These impacts could be substantial depending upon the magnitude of the change in interest rates. In certain cases, the valuations obtained from the discounted cash flow analysis and the other primary methodology we use, the market multiples approach, may yield different and offsetting results. For example, the positive impact of falling interest rates on discounted cash flow valuations may offset the negative impact of the market multiples valuation approach and may result in less of a decline in value than for those investments that had a readily observable market price. Finally, low interest rates related to monetary stimulus and economic stagnation may also negatively impact expected returns on all investments, as the demand for relatively higher return assets increases and supply decreases.
Interest Income
We and certain consolidated funds, including CLOs, hold credit investments that generate interest income based on variable interest rates. We are exposed to interest rate risk relating to investments that generate yield since a meaningful portion of credit investments held by us and our consolidated funds, including CLOs, earn income based on variable interest rates. However, the contractual interest rate structure for a large portion of our credit investments bearing variable rates have "floors," which establish a minimum rate of interest that will be earned. In the current low interest rate environment, a large portion of the credit investments held by us and our consolidated funds, including CLOs, are earning interest at the contractual floor and therefore, for these investments, a decrease in variable interest rates would not impact the amount of interest income earned. With respect to consolidated funds and CLOs, the impact on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. resulting from a decrease of a hypothetical 100 basis points in variable interest rates used in the recognition of interest income would not be expected to be material since (i) many variable rate credit investments are subject to floors as described above and (ii) a substantial portion of this decrease would be attributable to noncontrolling interests. With respect to credit investments held by KKR outside of the consolidated funds and CLOs, all of the interest income earned inures to KKR & Co. L.P.; however a large portion of these investments are subject to floors as described above. Accordingly, the impact on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. resulting from a decrease of a hypothetical 100 basis points in variable interest rates used in the recognition of interest income would not be expected to be material.
Interest Expense
We and certain consolidated funds, including CLOs, have debt obligations that include revolving credit agreements, certain investment financing arrangements and debt securities issued by CLO vehicles that accrue interest at variable rates. Changes in these rates would affect the amount of interest payments that our consolidated funds, including CLOs, would have to make. With respect to consolidated funds and CLOs, the impact on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. resulting from an increase of a hypothetical 100 basis points in variable interest rates used in the recognition of interest expense would not be expected to be material since a substantial portion of this increase would be attributable to noncontrolling interests. With respect to debt obligations held by KKR and not in the consolidated funds or CLOs, as of December 31, 2017, KKR had debt obligations outstanding with an aggregate principal amount of approximately $264.8 million that accrues interest at a variable rate. The impact on net income attributable to KKR & Co. L.P. resulting from an increase of a hypothetical 100 basis points in variable interest rates used in the recognition of interest expense would not be expected to be material.
Credit Risk
We are party to agreements providing for various financial services and transactions that contain an element of risk in the event that the counterparties are unable to meet the terms of such agreements. In these agreements, we depend on these counterparties to make payment or otherwise perform. We generally endeavor to minimize our risk of exposure by limiting the counterparties with which we enter into financial transactions to reputable financial institutions. In addition, availability of financing from financial institutions may be uncertain due to market events, and we may not be able to access these financing markets.
Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | 179 |
| Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 | 181 |
| Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 | 183 |
| Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the Years Ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 | 184 |
| Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 | 185 |
| Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 | 187 |
| Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | 189 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Unitholders and Board of Directors of KKR & Co. L.P.:
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial condition of KKR & Co. L.P. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), changes in equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes and the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
Basis for Opinions
The Company's management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures to respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
New York, New York
February 23, 2018
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2006.
KKR & CO. L.P.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
(Amounts in Thousands, Except Unit Data)
| December 31, 2017 | December 31, 2016 | ||||||
| Assets | |||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | $ | 1,876,687 | $ | 2,508,902 | |||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents Held at Consolidated Entities | 1,802,372 | 1,624,758 | |||||
| Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents | 56,302 | 212,155 | |||||
| Investments | 39,013,934 | 31,409,765 | |||||
| Due from Affiliates | 554,349 | 250,452 | |||||
| Other Assets | 2,531,075 | 2,996,865 | |||||
| Total Assets | $ | 45,834,719 | $ | 39,002,897 | |||
| Liabilities and Equity | |||||||
| Debt Obligations | $ | 21,193,859 | $ | 18,544,075 | |||
| Due to Affiliates | 323,810 | 359,479 | |||||
| Accounts Payable, Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities | 3,654,250 | 2,981,260 | |||||
| Total Liabilities | 25,171,919 | 21,884,814 | |||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | |||||||
| Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests | 610,540 | 632,348 | |||||
| Equity | |||||||
| Series A Preferred Units (13,800,000 units issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and 2016) | 332,988 | 332,988 | |||||
| Seri |
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Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by us in the reports filed or submitted by us under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms and such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Co-Chief Executive Officers and the Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurances of achieving the desired control objectives.
As of the period ended December 31, 2017, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the Co-Chief Executive Officers and the Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon that evaluation, our Co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the period ended December 31, 2017, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to accomplish their objectives at the reasonable assurance level.
Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, a company's principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
| • | Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; |
| • | Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and |
| • | Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework that was issued in 2013. Based on its assessment, our management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2017, our internal control over financial reporting is effective.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
No changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) occurred during the fourth quarter of 2017 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Attestation Report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Deloitte & Touche LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm that audited our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report, has issued its attestation report on our internal control over financial reporting, which is included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.
None.
PART III
Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Our Managing Partner
As is commonly the case with limited partnerships, our limited partnership agreement provides for the management of our business and affairs by a general partner rather than a board of directors. Our Managing Partner serves as our sole general partner. Our Managing Partner has a board of directors that is co-chaired by our founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who also serve as our Co-Chief Executive Officers and are authorized to appoint our other officers. Our Managing Partner does not have any economic interest in our partnership.
Directors and Executive Officers
The following table presents certain information concerning the board of directors and executive officers of our Managing Partner.
| Name | Age | Position with Managing Partner | ||
| Henry R. Kravis | 74 | Co-Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman and Director | ||
| George R. Roberts | 74 | Co-Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman and Director | ||
| Joseph Y. Bae | 46 | Co-President, Co-Chief Operating Officer and Director | ||
| Scott C. Nuttall | 45 | Co-President, Co-Chief Operating Officer and Director | ||
| David C. Drummond | 54 | Director | ||
| Joseph A. Grundfest | 66 | Director | ||
| John B. Hess | 63 | Director | ||
| Patricia F. Russo | 65 | Director | ||
| Thomas M. Schoewe | 65 | Director | ||
| Robert W. Scully | 68 | Director | ||
| William J. Janetschek | 55 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| David J. Sorkin | 58 | General Counsel and Secretary |
Henry R. Kravis co-founded KKR in 1976 and is Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of our Managing Partner. He is actively involved in managing the firm and serves on regional Private Equity Investment Committees. Mr. Kravis currently serves on the boards of First Data Corporation and ICONIQ Capital, LLC. He also serves as a director, chairman emeritus or trustee of several cultural, professional, and educational institutions, including the Business Council, Claremont McKenna College, Columbia Business School, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Partnership for New York City, the Partnership Fund for New York City, Rockefeller University, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. Mr. Kravis founded the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College, where he established the Kravis Prize in Leadership, which honors leadership in the non-profit sector. He earned a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College in 1967 and an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School in 1969. Mr. Kravis has more than four decades of experience financing, analyzing, and investing in public and private companies, as well as serving on the boards of a number of KKR portfolio companies. As our co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kravis has an intimate knowledge of KKR's business, which allows him to provide insight into various aspects of our business and is of significant value to the board of directors. Mr. Kravis is a first cousin of Mr. Roberts.
George R. Roberts co-founded KKR in 1976 and is Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of our Managing Partner. He is actively involved in managing the firm and serves on regional Private Equity Investment Committees. Mr. Roberts serves as a director or trustee of several cultural and educational institutions, including Claremont McKenna College. He is also founder and chairman of the board of directors of REDF, a San Francisco nonprofit organization. He earned a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College in 1966 and a J.D. from the University of California (Hastings) Law School in 1969. Mr. Roberts has more than four decades of experience financing, analyzing, and investing in public and private companies, as well as serving on the boards of a number of KKR portfolio companies. As our co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Roberts has an intimate knowledge of KKR's business, which allows him to provide insight into various aspects of our business and is of significant value to the board of directors. Mr. Roberts is a first cousin of Mr. Kravis.
Joseph Y. Bae joined KKR in 1996 and is Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of our Managing Partner. Mr. Bae has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since July 16, 2017. Prior to July 2017, when he was promoted to his current position, he was the managing partner of KKR Asia and the global head of KKR's infrastructure and energy real asset businesses. He is the chairman of KKR's Asia and Americas Private Equity Investment Committees and serves on KKR's European Private Equity, Growth Equity, Energy, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Special Situations Investment Committees. He is also a member of KKR's Inclusion and Diversity Council. Prior to KKR, Mr. Bae worked for Goldman Sachs & Co. in its principal investment area, where he was involved in a broad range of merchant banking transactions. He has a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Mr. Bae serves on the boards of a number of non-profit educational and cultural institutions including, as a trustee for Phillips Andover Academy, the Global Advisory Council at Harvard University, a board member of the Lincoln Center, The Asia Society and the Asia Art Archives. Mr. Bae's intimate knowledge of KKR's business and operations and his experience in a variety of senior leadership roles within KKR provide significant value to the board of directors.
Scott C. Nuttall joined KKR in 1996 and is Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of our Managing Partner. Mr. Nuttall has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since July 16, 2017. Prior to July 2017, when he was promoted to his current position, he was the head of KKR's global capital and asset management group, where he was responsible for overseeing KKR's Public Markets and distribution businesses, which include credit, capital markets, hedge funds and its Client and Partner Group. Mr. Nuttall also serves on KKR's balance sheet committee and the firm's Inclusion and Diversity Council. He is currently a member of the board of directors of First Data Corporation. Prior to joining KKR, he was with the Blackstone Group where he was involved in numerous merchant banking and merger and acquisition transactions. He received a B.S., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the board of various non-profit institutions with a particular focus on education, most recently as co-chairman of Teach for America - New York. Mr. Nuttall's intimate knowledge of KKR's business and operations and his experience in a variety of senior leadership roles within KKR provide significant value to the board of directors.
David C. Drummond has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since March 14, 2014. Mr. Drummond has served as the senior vice president, corporate development of Alphabet Inc. (and its predecessor Google Inc.) since January 2006, as its chief legal officer since December 2006 and as its secretary since 2002. Previously, he served as Google Inc.'s vice president, corporate development and general counsel since February 2002 to December 2005. Prior to joining Google Inc., from July 1999 to February 2002, Mr. Drummond served as chief financial officer of SmartForce, an educational software applications company. Prior to that, Mr. Drummond was a partner at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Mr. Drummond holds a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Santa Clara University. Mr. Drummond provides significant value to the oversight and development of our business through his management and leadership roles at a publicly-traded global technology business and his insight into legal developments affecting global enterprises.
Joseph A. Grundfest has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since July 15, 2010. Mr. Grundfest has been a member of the faculty of Stanford Law School since 1990, where he is the William A. Franke Professor of Law and Business. He is also senior faculty of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University; co-director of Directors' College, a venue for the continuing professional education of directors of publicly traded corporations; and co-founder of Financial Engines, Inc., a provider of services and advice to participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans, where he has served as a director since its inception in 1996. Prior to joining the Stanford Law School faculty, Mr. Grundfest was a Commissioner of the SEC from 1985 to 1990. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. Mr. Grundfest's knowledge and expertise in capital markets, corporate governance, and securities laws provides significant value to the oversight and development of our business.
John B. Hess has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since July 28, 2011. Mr. Hess has been the chief executive officer of Hess Corporation since 1995 and a director since 1978. He was also director of Dow Chemical Co. from 2006 to 2013. He serves as a member of the Business Council, the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations and on the executive committee of the American Petroleum Institute and previously served on the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Quadrennial Review Task Force. Mr. Hess is a member of the board of trustees at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Dean's Advisors at Harvard Business School, and chairs The Harvard Business School Campaign. Mr. Hess earned a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Hess provides significant value to the oversight and development of our business through his management and leadership roles at a global energy business, and his involvement with major businesses and public policy organizations also provides valuable perspectives for our business.
Patricia F. Russo has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since April 15, 2011. Ms. Russo served as chief executive officer of Alcatel-Lucent from 2006 to 2008. Prior to the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, she served as chairman of Lucent Technologies, Inc. from 2003 to 2006, and as president and chief executive officer from 2002 to 2006. Before rejoining Lucent in 2002, Ms. Russo was president and chief operating officer of Eastman Kodak Company from March 2001 to December 2001. Since November 2016, Ms. Russo has served on the board of Arconic Inc., which separated from Alcoa Inc., where Ms. Russo served as a director from 2008 to November 2016. She also has served as the chairman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company since 2015 and as a director of, Merck & Co., Inc. since 2009 and General Motors Company since 2009. Prior to its merger with Merck in 2009, Ms. Russo served as a director of Schering-Plough since 1995, and she served as a director of Hewlett Packard Company from 2011 to November 2015. She graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in political science and history, and obtained an Advanced Management Degree from Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. Ms. Russo's management and leadership experience as chief executive officer of complex global companies as well as her experience with corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and sales and marketing brings important expertise to the oversight and development of our business. Ms. Russo also brings extensive experience in corporate governance as a member of boards and board committees of other public companies.
Thomas M. Schoewe has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since March 14, 2011. Mr. Schoewe was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a position he held from 2000 to 2010, and was employed by Walmart in a transitional capacity to January 2011. Prior to his employment at Walmart, Mr. Schoewe served as senior vice president and chief financial officer for Black and Decker Corp., a position he held from 1993 to 1999. Prior to that, he served for four years as Black and Decker's vice president of finance. He previously held the position of vice president of business planning and analysis. He joined Black and Decker in 1986 after serving at Chicago-based Beatrice Companies, where he was chief financial officer and controller of Beatrice Consumer Durables, Inc. He has served on the board of directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation and General Motors Company since 2011. From 2001 to May 2012, he served on the board of directors of PulteGroup Inc., which merged with Centex Corporation in 2009 and previously served on the Centex board. Mr. Schoewe graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a bachelor's of business administration degree in finance. Mr. Schoewe's experience in financial reporting, accounting and controls, and business planning and analysis, together with his significant international experience as an executive of large multinational companies, brings important expertise to the oversight and development of our business. Mr. Schoewe also has experience with large-scale, transformational information technology implementations at Wal-Mart and Black and Decker.
Robert W. Scully has been a member of the board of directors of our Managing Partner since July 15, 2010. Mr. Scully was a member of the Office of the Chairman of Morgan Stanley from 2007 until his retirement in 2009, where he had previously been co-president, chairman of global capital markets and vice chairman of investment banking. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 1996, he served as a managing director at Lehman Brothers and at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Scully has served as a director of Zoetis Inc. since June 2013, Chubb Limited since January 2016, and prior to its acquisition of Chubb Limited, a director of ACE Limited from May 2014 to January 2016, and UBS Group AG since May 2016. Previously, he was a director of Bank of America Corporation from August 2009 to May 2013 and a public governor of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. from October 2014 to May 2016. He has also served as a director of GMAC Financial Services and MSCI Inc. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Scully serves on the Board of Dean's Advisors of Harvard Business School. Mr. Scully's 35-year career in the financial services industry brings important expertise to the oversight of our business. In addition, his leadership experience with a global financial services company brings an industry perspective to our business development within and outside the United States as well as issues such as talent development, senior client relationship management, strategic initiatives, risk management and audit and financial reporting.
William J. Janetschek joined KKR in 1997 and is Chief Financial Officer of our Managing Partner. Mr. Janetschek also serves on KKR's balance sheet committee, and has been the president and chief executive officer of KKR Financial Holdings LLC since June 2014 and its director since May 2014. Prior to joining KKR, he was a Tax Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. He holds a B.S. from St. John's University and an M.S., Taxation from Pace University. Mr. Janetschek is actively involved in the community, serving as a sponsor and member of a variety of non-profit organizations including Student Sponsor Partners and St. John's University.
David J. Sorkin joined KKR in 2007 and is General Counsel and Secretary of our Managing Partner. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Sorkin was with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP for 22 years. He served as a partner at the law firm and also served on the executive committee and was one of KKR's principal outside counsels. Mr. Sorkin serves on the board of directors of New Alternatives for Children. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Williams College and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Independence and Composition of the Board of Directors
Our Managing Partner's board of directors consists of ten directors, six of whom, Messrs. Drummond, Grundfest, Hess, Schoewe and Scully and Ms. Russo, are independent under NYSE rules relating to corporate governance matters and the independence standards described in our corporate governance guidelines. While we are exempt from NYSE rules relating to board independence, our Managing Partner intends to maintain a board of directors that consists of at least a majority of directors who are independent under NYSE rules relating to corporate governance matters.
In addition, the board has considered transactions and relationships between KKR and the companies and organizations on whose boards or other similar governing bodies where our independent directors also serve or where our independent directors serve as executive officers, including investments made by such companies in the portfolio companies in which KKR or its funds are invested. It was determined that none of these transactions or relationships adversely impacted the independence of our independent directors.
Board Committees
Our Managing Partner's board of directors has four standing committees: an audit committee, a conflicts committee, a nominating and corporate governance committee and an executive committee that operate pursuant to written charters as described below. Because we are a limited partnership, our Managing Partner's board is not required by NYSE rules to establish a compensation committee or a nominating and corporate governance committee or to meet other substantive NYSE corporate governance requirements. While the board has established a nominating and governance committee, we rely on available exemptions concerning the committee's composition and mandate.
Audit Committee
The audit committee consists of Messrs. Grundfest (Chairman), Schoewe and Scully. The purpose of the audit committee is to provide assistance to the board of directors in fulfilling its responsibility with respect to its oversight of: (i) the quality and integrity of our financial statements, including investment valuations; (ii) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; (iii) our independent registered public accounting firm's qualifications, independence and performance; and (iv) the performance of our internal audit function. The members of the audit committee meet the independence standards and financial literacy requirements for service on an audit committee of a board of directors pursuant to the Exchange Act and NYSE rules applicable to audit committees. The Managing Partner's board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Grundfest, Schoewe and Scully is an "audit committee financial expert" within the meaning of Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K. The audit committee has a charter, which is available at the Investor Center section of our website at www.kkr.com.
Conflicts Committee
The conflicts committee consists of Messrs. Drummond, Hess, Schoewe and Scully and Ms. Russo. The conflicts committee is responsible for reviewing specific matters that the board of directors believes may involve a conflict of interest and for enforcing our rights under any of the exchange agreement, the tax receivable agreement, the limited partnership agreement of any KKR Group Partnership or our limited partnership agreement (collectively, the "covered agreements") against KKR Holdings and certain of its subsidiaries and designees, a general partner or limited partner of KKR Holdings, or a person who holds a partnership or equity interest in the foregoing entities. The conflicts committee is also authorized to take any action pursuant to any authority or rights granted to such committee under any covered agreement or with respect to any amendment, supplement, modification or waiver to any such agreement that would purport to modify such authority or rights. In addition, the conflicts committee shall approve any amendment to any of the covered agreements that in the reasonable judgment of our Managing Partner's board of directors is or will result in a conflict of interest. The conflicts committee will determine if the resolution of any conflict of interest submitted to it is fair and reasonable to our partnership. Any matters approved by the conflicts committee will be conclusively deemed to be fair and reasonable to our partnership and not a breach of any duties that may be owed to our unitholders. In addition, the conflicts committee may review and approve any related person transactions, other than those that are approved pursuant to our related person policy, as described under "Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence—Statement of Policy Regarding Transactions with Related Persons," and may establish guidelines or rules to cover specific categories of transactions. The members of the conflicts committee meet the independence standards under our corporate governance guidelines as required for service on the conflicts committee in accordance with its charter.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The nominating and corporate governance committee consists of Messrs. Kravis, Roberts and Scully. The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for identifying and recommending candidates for appointment to the board of directors and for assisting and advising the board of directors with respect to matters relating to the general operation of the board and corporate governance matters. Mr. Scully meets the independence standards under the rules of the NYSE as required for service on the nominating and corporate governance committee in accordance with its charter.
Executive Committee
The executive committee consists of Messrs. Kravis and Roberts. The purpose of the executive committee is to act, when necessary, in place of our Managing Partner's full board of directors during periods in which the board is not in session. The executive committee is authorized and empowered to act as if it were the full board of directors in overseeing our business and affairs, except that it is not authorized or empowered to take actions that have been specifically delegated to other board committees or to take actions with respect to: (i) the declaration of distributions on our common units; (ii) a merger or consolidation of our partnership with or into another entity; (iii) a sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our assets; (iv) a liquidation or dissolution of our partnership; (v) any action that must be submitted to a vote of our Managing Partner's members or our unitholders; or (vi) any action that may not be delegated to a board committee under our Managing Partner's limited liability company agreement or the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our principal executive officers, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer and is available on our website at www.kkr.com under the "Investor Center" section. In accordance with, and to the extent required by the rules and regulations of the SEC, we intend to disclose any amendment to or waiver of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on behalf of an executive officer or director either on our website or in a Current Report on Form 8-K filing.
Corporate Governance Guidelines
Our Managing Partner's board of directors has a governance policy, which addresses matters such as the board of directors' responsibilities and duties, the board of directors' composition and compensation and director independence. The governance guidelines are available on our website at www.kkr.com under the "Investor Center" section.
Communications to the Board of Directors
The non-management members of our Managing Partner's board of directors meet regularly. At each meeting of the non-management members, the non- management directors choose a director to lead the meeting. All interested parties, including any employee or unitholder, may send communications to the non-management members of our Managing Partner's board of directors by writing to: Investor Relations, KKR & Co. L.P., 9 West 57th Street, Suite 4200, New York, New York 10019.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires the executive officers and directors of our Managing Partner, and persons who beneficially own more than ten percent of a registered class of our partnership's equity securities, to file initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership with the SEC and furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. To our knowledge, based solely on our review of the copies of such reports or written representations from such persons that they were not required to file a Form 5 to report previously unreported ownership or changes in ownership, we believe that, with respect to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, such persons complied with all such filing requirements, except KKR Holdings filed a late Form 4 on November 13, 2017 for a transaction that occurred on November 8, 2017.
Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
Compensation Philosophy
Our compensation program has three primary objectives: (1) to attract, motivate and retain our employees, (2) to align their interests with those of our unitholders and fund investors and (3) to reinforce our culture and values.
Our employees. Our business is dependent on the services of our employees, including our named executive officers. Among other things, we depend on their ability, where applicable, to find, select and execute investments, manage and improve portfolio company operations, find and develop relationships with fund investors and other sources of capital, find, select and execute capital markets opportunities, and provide other services, and we cannot compete effectively without their continued employment with us. Therefore, it is important that our key employees are compensated in a manner that motivates them to excel consistently and encourages them to remain with the firm.
Alignment of interests. Management equity ownership in the businesses in which we invest has been a guiding principle throughout our firm's history, and we apply that principle to ourselves: every employee of the firm is expected to have an equity interest in KKR. This equity ownership serves to align the interests of our employees with those of our unitholders. In addition, because we invest in and alongside our investment funds and have a carry pool from which we can allocate to our employees 40% or 43%, as applicable, of the carried interest that we generate through our business, we believe that our employees' interests are also aligned with those of our investors in the funds, vehicles and accounts that we manage, which in turn benefits our unitholders. Our carry pool is supplemented by allocating for compensation 40% of the incentive fees that do not constitute carried interest that are earned from investment funds and certain management fee refunds.
Culture and values. One of our most important values is our "one-firm" approach with shared responsibility and success, and we also subscribe to a culture of meritocracy and fairness. Therefore, compensation is based on the performance of the firm as a whole as well as on an individual's contributions to the firm. For example, we do not compensate people based merely on an individual's accomplishments in relation to the profits and losses of his or her business unit. In addition, we conduct, at least annually, an evaluation process based on input from a wide range of persons regarding each employee's contribution to the firm, including his or her commitment to the firm's culture and values. We believe that using this kind of an evaluation process also promotes a measure of objectivity as a balance to a single manager's judgment.
We refer to our two Co-Chief Executive Officers (Henry Kravis and George Roberts), our two Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers (Joseph Bae and Scott Nuttall), our Chief Financial Officer (William Janetschek), our General Counsel (David Sorkin) and our former Chief Administrative Officer (Todd Fisher) as our "named executive officers." Messrs. Bae and Nuttall were appointed as our Co-Presidents and Co-Chief Operating Officers on July 16, 2017, and Mr. Fisher left the firm on December 29, 2017 to pursue a career outside the investment industry. We believe that the elements of compensation discussed below for our named executive officers serve these primary objectives. We, as a limited partnership with no annual meeting of unitholders, are not required to conduct say-on-pay or say-on-frequency votes as provided in the Dodd-Frank Act. However, we intend periodically to review the elements of our compensation, and we may make changes to the compensation structure relating to one or more named executive officers based on the outcome of such reviews from time to time.
KKR Holdings
Each of our named executive officers holds interests in our business through KKR Holdings, which is the entity that indirectly owns all of the outstanding KKR Group Partnership Units that are not allocable to us.
KKR Holdings units are, subject to certain restrictions, exchangeable for our common units, on a one-for-one basis, and generally cannot be sold to third parties for monetary value unless they are first exchanged for our common units. Because KKR Holdings units are exchangeable for our common units, we believe that our named executive officers' interests are aligned with those of our unitholders.
KKR Holdings, from time to time, receives distributions that are made on KKR Group Partnership Units that are held by it. To the extent such distributions are received on KKR Group Partnership Units that underlie any KKR Holdings units that have satisfied their respective vesting requirements, if any, at the time distributions are declared on the underlying KKR Group Partnership Units, such distributions will be allocated and further distributed to the named executive officers as and when received. To the extent that such distributions are made on KKR Group Partnership Units underlying any KKR Holdings units that have not satisfied all vesting requirements at the time distributions are declared on the underlying KKR Group Partnership
Units, such distributions may be allocated or otherwise applied in such amounts and in such manner as our Co-Chief Executive Officers, acting through the general partner of KKR Holdings, may determine. See "—Compensation Elements—Year-End Bonus Compensation" for a description of these grants. As of February 21, 2018, approximately 0.2 million KKR Holdings units remain unallocated.
In 2017, our named executive officers received distributions on their vested KKR Holdings units, as well as common units, and because these distributions are not considered to be compensation, they have not been reported in the Summary Compensation Table.
Compensation Elements
Base Salary
For 2017, each of our named executive officers was paid an annual salary of $300,000. We believe that the base salary of our named executive officers should typically not be the most significant component of total compensation. Our Co-Chief Executive Officers determined that this amount was a sufficient minimum base salary for our named executive officers and decided that it should be the same for all named executive officers. We are responsible for funding this base salary.
Year-End Bonus Compensation
Our Co-Chief Executive Officers did not receive any year-end bonus compensation in 2017. They have decided at this time not to receive any bonus from us or from KKR Holdings in excess of distributions payable with respect to their KKR Holdings units. Instead, they have decided that year-end bonus payments from KKR Holdings for 2017 should be made to our other employees in order to motivate and retain them for the benefit of the firm. See also "—KKR Holdings Units and Restricted Equity Units" and "—Other Compensation" below for KKR Holdings units granted to our Co-Chief Executive Officers in November 2017 and certain incidental benefits provided by the firm.
In 2017, our Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and former Chief Administrative Officer were awarded additional year-end compensation as bonus payments that were determined by our Co-Chief Executive Officers. Our Co-Chief Executive Officers made their subjective determinations by assessing our overall performance and the contributions that our Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and former Chief Administrative Officer made to our development and success, as a firm, during the year. Certain factors that were considered when determining the size of the bonus payments for our Co-Presidents/Co-Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and former Chief Administrative Officer include (i) their respective contributions and accomplishments in 2017 in terms of driving commerci
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Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
Our Common Units
The following table sets forth the beneficial ownership of our common units and KKR Group Partnership Units that are exchangeable for our common units by:
| • | each person known to us to beneficially own more than 5% of any class of the outstanding voting securities of our partnership based on our review of filings with the SEC; |
| • | each of the directors, persons chosen to become a director and named executive officers of our Managing Partner; and |
| • | the directors, persons chosen to become a director and executive officers of our Managing Partner as a group. |
The numbers of common units and KKR Group Partnership Units outstanding and the percentage of beneficial ownership are based on 486,800,395 common units issued and outstanding and 335,971,334 KKR Group Partnership Units that are exchangeable for our common units as of February 21, 2018. Beneficial ownership is in each case determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC, and includes equity securities of which that person has the right to acquire beneficial ownership within 60 days of February 21, 2018. Under these rules, more than one person may be deemed a beneficial owner of the same securities and a person may be deemed a beneficial owner of securities as to which he has no economic interest.
| Common Units Beneficially Owned (1) | KKR Group Partnership Units and Special Voting Units Beneficially Owned (1)(2) | Percentage of Combined Beneficial | |||||||||||||||||
| Name (3) | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Ownership (4) | ||||||||||||||
| KKR Holdings (5) | 2,677 | * | 335,971,334 | 100.0% | 40.8 | % | |||||||||||||
| ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings, L.P. (6) | 49,700,000 | 10.2 | % | — | — | 6.0 | |||||||||||||
| FMR LLC (7) | 33,735,482 | 6.9 | — | — | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||
| Henry R. Kravis (5)(8)(9) | 6,965,126 | 1.4 | 335,971,334 | 100.0 | 41.7 | ||||||||||||||
| George R. Roberts (5)(8)(9) | 5,878,998 | 1.2 | 335,971,334 | 100.0 | 41.6 | ||||||||||||||
| Joseph Y. Bae (10) | 385,978 | * | 8,170,735 | 2.4 | 1.0 | ||||||||||||||
| Scott C. Nuttall (10) | 564,265 | * | 11,046,555 | 3.3 | 1.4 | ||||||||||||||
| David C. Drummond | 24,967 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| Joseph A. Grundfest | 59,583 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| John B. Hess | 133,183 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| Patricia F. Russo | 52,583 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| Thomas M. Schoewe | 60,183 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| Robert W. Scully | 114,583 | * | — | — | * | ||||||||||||||
| William J. Janetschek (10) | 115,326 | * | 3,110,000 | * | * | ||||||||||||||
| David J. Sorkin (10) | 225,886 | * | 3,133,593 | * | * | ||||||||||||||
| Todd A. Fisher (10) | 211,302 | * | 9,468,035 | 2.8 | 1.2 | ||||||||||||||
| Directors and executive officers as a group (12 persons) | 9,910,818 | 2.0% | 335,971,334 | 100.0% | 42.0% | ||||||||||||||
| * | Less than 1.0%. |
| (1) | KKR Group Partnership Units held by KKR Holdings are exchangeable (together with the corresponding special voting units) for our common units on a one-for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for splits, unit distributions and reclassifications and in compliance with lock-up, vesting and transfer restrictions as described under "Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence—Exchange Agreement." Beneficial ownership of KKR Group Partnership Units reflected in this table has not also been reflected as beneficial ownership of our common units for which such KKR Group Partnership Units may be exchanged. |
| (2) | On any matters that may be submitted to a vote of our unitholders, the special voting units provide their holders with a number of votes that is equal to the aggregate number of KKR Group Partnership Units that such holders hold and entitle such holders to participate in the vote on the same basis as our unitholders. |
| (3) | The address of each director and executive officer is c/o KKR Management LLC, 9 West 57th Street, Suite 4200, New York, New York 10019. |
| (4) | This column assumes the exchange of KKR Group Partnership Units beneficially owned into common units and a number of outstanding common units calculated in accordance with Rule 13d-3(d)(1) of the Exchange Act. |
| (5) | KKR Holdings owns, beneficially or of record, an aggregate of 2,677 common units and 335,971,334 exchangeable KKR Group Partnership Units. Our principals hold interests in KKR Holdings that will entitle them to participate in the value of the KKR Group Partnership Units held by KKR Holdings. KKR Holdings is a limited partnership that is controlled by KKR Holdings GP Limited, its sole general partner, which has investment control over all KKR Group Partnership Units and common units held by KKR Holdings and voting control over all special voting units held by KKR Holdings. Each of Messrs. Kravis and Roberts disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by him, except to the extent of his own pecuniary interest therein. Messrs. Kravis and Roberts, by virtue of their rights under the organizational documents of KKR Holdings GP Limited (the general partner of KKR Holdings), may be deemed to share dispositive and/or voting power with respect to the KKR Group Partnership Units, special voting units and common units held by KKR Holdings. Mr. Kravis disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by him, except with respect to 82,814,740 KKR Group Partnership Units in which he and certain related entities he controls have a pecuniary interest. Mr. Roberts disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by him, except with respect to 87,277,805 KKR Group Partnership Units in which he and certain related entities he controls have a pecuniary interest. The address of KKR Holdings is c/o KKR Management LLC, 9 West 57th Street, Suite 4200, New York, New York 10019. |
| (6) | Based on a Form 4 filed with the SEC on February 13, 2018 and a Schedule 13D/A filed with the SEC on November 29, 2017, common units reported as beneficially owned by ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings, L.P. are also reported as indirectly beneficially owned by (i) ValueAct Capital Master Fund, L.P. as sole limited partner of ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings, L.P., (ii) VA Partners I, LLC as general partner of ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings, L.P. and ValueAct Capital Master Fund, L.P., (iii) ValueAct Capital Management, L.P. as the manager of ValueAct Capital Master Fund, L.P., (iv) ValueAct Capital Management, LLC as general partner of ValueAct Capital Management, L.P., (v) ValueAct Holdings, L.P. as the sole owner of the limited partnership interests of ValueAct Capital Management, L.P. and the membership interests of ValueAct Capital Management, LLC and as the majority owner of the membership interests of VA Partners I, LLC and (vi) ValueAct Holdings GP, LLC as general partner of ValueAct Holdings, L.P. ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings, L.P. is reported as having shared power to vote or to direct the vote, and shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of, such shares of common units, with VA Partners I, LLC, ValueAct Capital Master Fund, L.P., ValueAct Capital Management, L.P., ValueAct Capital Management, LLC, ValueAct Holdings, L.P. and ValueAct Holdings GP, LLC. The address of these beneficial owners is One Letterman Drive, Building D, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, California 94129. |
| (7) | Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 13, 2018, FMR LLC and Abigail P. Johnson may be deemed to beneficially own and have the sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of 33,735,482 common units. The address of these beneficial owners is 245 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210. Certain affiliates of Fidelity provide services to us in connection with the investment management, record keeping and administration of our Equity Incentive Plan and our retirement savings plans for which they received customary fees and expenses not in excess of $1.2 million, although certain of these fees are paid by participants in the respective plans. Affiliates of Fidelity have invested or committed to invest approximately $95.0 million as of December 31, 2017, in our investment vehicles. Fidelity and its affiliates have in the past and may in the future participate in offerings, syndications or similar transactions with our capital markets business, including in certain cases where equity of KKR portfolio companies are offered to Fidelity's retail and institutional brokerage customers, on the same terms and conditions provided to other participants in such transactions. For the year ended December 31, 2017, in connection with such transactions affiliates of Fidelity received selling concessions of less than $650,000 in the aggregate, which were borne by the underwriters in such transactions. Affiliates of Fidelity may also sell common units owned by our employees, including our executive officers and directors, in ordinary brokerage transactions from time to time. |
| (8) | KKR MIF Fund Holdings L.P. owns, beneficially or of record, an aggregate of 1,028,156 common units. The sole general partner of KKR MIF Fund Holdings L.P. is KKR MIF Carry Holdings L.P. The sole general partner of KKR |
MIF Carry Holdings L.P. is KKR MIF Carry Limited. Each of KKR MIF Carry Holdings L.P. (as the sole general partner of KKR MIF Fund Holdings L.P.); KKR MIF Carry Limited (as the sole general partner of KKR MIF Carry Holdings L.P.); KKR Index Fund Investments L.P. (as the sole shareholder of KKR MIF Carry Limited); KKR IFI GP L.P. (as the sole general partner of KKR Index Fund Investments L.P.); KKR IFI Limited (as the sole general partner of KKR IFI GP L.P.); KKR Fund Holdings L.P. (as the sole shareholder of KKR IFI Limited); KKR Fund Holdings GP Limited (as a general partner of KKR Fund Holdings L.P.); KKR Group Holdings L.P. (as a general partner of KKR Fund Holdings L.P. and the sole shareholder of KKR Fund Holdings GP Limited); KKR Group Limited (as the sole general partner of KKR Group Holdings L.P.); KKR & Co. L.P. (as the sole shareholder of KKR Group Limited); and KKR Management LLC (as the sole general partner of KKR & Co. L.P.) may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the securities. Messrs. Kravis and Roberts are the designated members of KKR Management LLC and may be deemed to share dispositive power with respect to the common units held by KKR MIF Fund Holdings L.P. Each of Messrs. Kravis and Roberts disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities.
| (9) | KKR Reference Fund Investments L.P. owns, beneficially or of record, an aggregate of 3,639,010 common units. The sole general partner of KKR Reference Fund Investments L.P. is KKR IFI GP L.P. Each of KKR IFI GP L.P. (as the sole general partner of KKR Reference Fund Investments L.P.); KKR IFI Limited (as the sole general partner of KKR IFI GP L.P.); KKR Fund Holdings L.P. (as the sole shareholder of KKR IFI Limited); KKR Fund Holdings GP Limited (as a general partner of KKR Fund Holdings L.P.); KKR Group Holdings L.P. (as a general partner of KKR Fund Holdings L.P. and the sole shareholder of KKR Fund Holdings GP Limited); KKR Group Limited (as the sole general partner of KKR Group Holdings L.P.); KKR & Co. L.P. (as the sole shareholder of KKR Group Limited); and KKR Management LLC (as the sole general partner of KKR & Co. L.P.) may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the securities. Messrs. Kravis and Roberts are the designated members of KKR Management LLC and may be deemed to share dispositive power with respect to the common units held by KKR MIF Fund Holdings L.P. Each of Messrs. Kravis and Roberts disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities. |
| (10) | The common units above for Messrs. Janetschek and Sorkin include 115,326 and 116,017 restricted equity units, respectively, that will vest within 60 days of February 21, 2018. |
Our Managing Partner
Our Managing Partner's outstanding limited liability company interests consist of Class A shares, which are entitled to vote on the election and removal of directors and all other matters that have not been delegated to the board of directors or reserved for the vote of Class B members, and Class B shares, which are entitled to vote only with respect to any matter requiring the approval of holders of voting interests held directly or indirectly by us in the general partners of our non‑U.S. funds. Notwithstanding the number of Class A shares held by the Class A members, under our Managing Partner's limited liability company agreement, Messrs. Kravis and Roberts, as the designated members of KKR Management LLC, are deemed to represent a majority of the Class A shares outstanding when acting together for purposes of voting on matters upon which holders of Class A shares are entitled to vote. Messrs. Kravis and Roberts may, in their discretion, designate one or more holders of Class A shares to hold such voting power and exercise all of the rights and duties of Messrs. Kravis and Roberts under our Managing Partner's limited liability company agreement. While Messrs. Kravis and Roberts historically have acted with unanimity when managing our business, they have not entered into any agreement relating to the voting of their Class A shares. All of our Managing Partner's other Class A shares are held by our other senior employees. Our Managing Partner's Class B shares are divided equally among twelve employees, each of whom holds less than 10% of the voting power of the Class B shares. None of the shares in our Managing Partner provide these holders with economic interests in our business. See also "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Common Units—Our limited partnership agreement contains provisions that reduce or eliminate duties (including fiduciary duties) of our Managing Partner and limit remedies available to unitholders for actions that might otherwise constitute a breach of duty. It will be difficult for unitholders to successfully challenge a resolution of a conflict of interest by our Managing Partner or by its conflicts committee." In addition, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure—We are a Delaware limited partnership, and there are certain provisions in our limited partnership agreement regarding exculpation and indemnification of our officers and directors that differ from the Delaware General Corporation Law ('DGCL') in a manner that may be less protective of the interests of our common unitholders."
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
The table set forth below provides information concerning the awards that may be issued under our Equity Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2017.
| Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights (1) | Weighted‑Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights | Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans (excluding securities reflected in the first column) (2) | ||||
| Equity Compensation Plans Approved by Security Holders | 51,475,176 | — | 27,313,068 | |||
| Equity Compensation Plans Not Approved by Security Holders | — | — | — | |||
| Total | 51,475,176 | — | 27,313,068 | |||
| (1) | Reflects the aggregate number of restricted equity units granted under our Equity Incentive Plan and outstanding as of December 31, 2017. |
| (2) | The aggregate number of common units covered by our Equity Incentive Plan is increased on the first day of each fiscal year during its term by a number of units equal to the positive difference, if any, of (a) 15% of the aggregate number of common units outstanding (on a fully diluted basis and exchanged) on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year minus (b) the aggregate number of common units available for issuance under our Equity Incentive Plan as of such date (unless the Administrator should decide to increase the number of common units covered by the plan by a lesser amount). We have filed a registration statement and intend to file additional registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register common units covered by our Equity Incentive Plan (including pursuant to automatic annual increases). Any such Form S-8 registration statement will automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, upon issuance pursuant to our Equity Incentive Plan, these common units will be available for sale in the open market. |
Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The following description is a summary of the material terms of the agreements described below, and does not contain all of the information that you may find useful. For additional information, you should read the copies of our exchange agreement, our registration rights agreement, our tax receivable agreement and the limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships, all of which have been incorporated by reference as exhibits to this report.
Exchange Agreement
We have entered into an exchange agreement with KKR Holdings, the entity through which certain of our employees, including Messrs. Kravis, Roberts, Bae, Nuttall, Janetschek and Sorkin, hold their KKR Group Partnership Units, pursuant to which KKR Holdings or certain transferees of its KKR Group Partnership Units may, on a quarterly basis (subject to the terms of the exchange agreement), exchange KKR Group Partnership Units held by them (together with corresponding special voting units) for our common units on a one-for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for splits, unit distributions and reclassifications. At the election of certain of our intermediate holding companies that are partners of the KKR Group Partnerships, the intermediate holding companies may settle exchanges of KKR Group Partnership Units with cash in an amount equal to the fair market value of the common units that would otherwise be deliverable in such exchanges. To the extent that KKR Group Partnership Units held by KKR Holdings or its transferees are exchanged for our common units, our interests in the KKR Group Partnerships will be correspondingly increased. Any common units received upon such exchange will be subject to any restrictions that were applicable to the exchanged KKR Group Partnership Units, including any applicable transfer restrictions. During the year ended December 31, 2017, 17,786,064 KKR Group Partnership Units were exchanged for our common units pursuant to this agreement.
On November 2, 2010, the exchange agreement was amended and restated to provide certain rights to cancel exchanges or limit the number of units exchanged in a given quarter. The amendments also provided that certain exchanges will be with a new subsidiary, the result of which is that the income tax character of a small portion of income distributed to unitholders may differ from what it would have been absent the amendment. If additional taxes result from the inclusion of this subsidiary of ours, KKR Holdings will make payments to one of our subsidiaries in respect of those taxes.
Certain interests in KKR Holdings that are held by our employees are subject to transfer restrictions and vesting requirements that, unless waived, modified or amended, limit the ability of our employees to cause KKR Group Partnership Units to be exchanged under the exchange agreement so long as applicable vesting and transfer restrictions apply. The general partner of KKR Holdings, which is controlled by our founders, will have sole authority for waiving any applicable vesting or transfer restrictions.
As contemplated by the exchange agreement, a coordinated selling program has been established relating to sales of common units received pursuant to the exchanges by certain holders of KKR Holdings units. Pursuant to the program, sales generally take place quarterly, and management is permitted to establish an overall limit on such sales based upon the trading volume of our common units or any other factor that may be considered relevant.
Registration Rights Agreement
In connection with our NYSE listing, we entered into a registration rights agreement with KKR Holdings pursuant to which we granted KKR Holdings, its affiliates and transferees of its KKR Group Partnership Units the right, under certain circumstances and subject to certain restrictions, to require us to register under the Securities Act our common units (and other securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for our common units) held or acquired by them. Under the registration rights agreement, holders of registration rights will have the right to request us to register the common units received upon the exchange of their KKR Holdings units and the sale of such common units and also have the right to require us to make available shelf registration statements permitting sales of common units into the market from time to time over an extended period. In addition, holders of registration rights will have the ability to exercise certain piggyback registration rights in connection with registered offerings requested by other holders of registration rights or initiated by us. On October 1, 2010, the registration statement we filed pursuant to this agreement was declared effective, and a post-effective amendment was declared effective on September 21, 2011. As of December 31, 2017, 335,971,334 common units remain unissued under that registration statement.
Tax Receivable Agreement
We and one or more of our intermediate holding companies may be required to acquire KKR Group Partnership Units from time to time pursuant to our exchange agreement with KKR Holdings. KKR Management Holdings L.P. has made an election under Section 754 of the Code, which will remain in effect for each taxable year in which an exchange of KKR Group Partnership Units for common units occurs. Certain of these exchanges are expected to result in an increase in certain of our intermediate holding companies' share of the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of the KKR Group Partnerships, primarily attributable to a portion of the goodwill inherent in our business, that would not otherwise have been available. This increase in tax basis may increase depreciation and amortization deductions for tax purposes and therefore reduce the amount of income tax our intermediate holding companies would otherwise be required to pay in the future. This increase in tax basis may also decrease gain (or increase loss) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those capital assets.
We have entered into a tax receivable agreement with KKR Holdings requiring our intermediate holding companies to pay to KKR Holdings or transferees of its KKR Group Partnership Units 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that our intermediate holding companies actually realize as a result of this increase in tax basis, as well as 85% of the amount of any such savings our intermediate holding companies actually realize as a result of increases in tax basis that arise due to future payments under the agreement. A termination of the agreement or a change of control could give rise to similar payments based on tax savings that we would be deemed to realize in connection with such events. This payment obligation is an obligation of the intermediate holding companies and not of any KKR Group Partnership. As such, the cash distributions to common unitholders may vary from holders of KKR Group Partnership Units (held by KKR Holdings and others) to the extent payments are made under the tax receivable agreement to exchanging holders of KKR Group Partnership Units. As the payments reflect actual tax savings received by KKR entities, there may be a timing difference between the tax savings received by KKR entities and the cash payments to exchanging holders of KKR Group Partnership Units. We expect the intermediate holding companies to benefit from the remaining 15% of cash savings, if any, in income tax that they realize. In the event that other of our current or future subsidiaries become taxable as corporations and acquire KKR Group Partnership Units in the future, or if we become taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we expect that each will become subject to a tax receivable agreement with substantially similar terms.
For purposes of the tax receivable agreement, cash savings in income tax will be computed by comparing the actual income tax liability of our intermediate holding companies to the amount of such taxes that they would have been required to pay had there been no increase to the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of the KKR Group Partnerships as a result of the exchanges of KKR Group Partnership Units and had the intermediate holding companies not entered into the tax receivable agreement. The term of the tax receivable agreement continues until all such tax benefits have been utilized or expired, unless the intermediate holding companies exercise their right to terminate the tax receivable agreement for an amount based on the agreed payments remaining to be made under the agreement.
Estimating the amount of payments that may be made under the tax receivable agreement is by its nature imprecise, insofar as the calculation of amounts payable depends on a variety of factors. The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the tax receivable agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including:
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the timing of exchanges—for instance, the increase in any tax deductions will vary depending on the fair market value, which may fluctuate over time, of the KKR Group Partnership Units, which will depend on the fair market value of the depreciable or amortizable assets of the KKR Group Partnerships at the time of the transaction;
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the price of our common units at the time of the exchange—the increase in any tax deductions, as well as the tax basis increase in other assets, of the KKR Group Partnerships is directly proportional to the price of our common units at the time of the exchange;
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the extent to which such exchanges are taxable—if an exchange is not taxable for any reason (for instance, in the case of a charitable contribution), increased deductions will not be available; and
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the amount of tax, if any, our intermediate holding company is required to pay aside from any tax benefit from the exchanges, and the timing of any such payment—if our intermediate holding companies do not have taxable income aside from any tax benefit from the exchanges, they will not be required to make payments under the tax receivable agreement for that taxable year because no tax savings will have been actually realized.
We expect that as a result of the amount of the increases in the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of the KKR Group Partnerships, assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize
the full tax benefit of the increased amortization of our assets, future payments under the tax receivable agreement will be substantial. The payments under the tax receivable agreement are not conditioned upon our principals' continued ownership of us and are required to be made within 90 days of the filing of the tax returns of our intermediate holding companies. For the year ended December 31, 2017, no payments were made to our principals, including our executive officers, or KKR Holdings. The independent directors of our board of directors are not eligible to receive payments under the tax receivable agreement.
The intermediate holding companies may terminate the tax receivable agreement at any time by making an early termination payment to KKR Holdings or its transferees, based upon the net present value (based upon certain assumptions in the tax receivable agreement) of all tax benefits that would be required to be paid by the intermediate holding companies to KKR Holdings or its transferees. In addition, the tax receivable agreement provides that upon certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of combination transactions or other changes of control, the minimum obligations of our intermediate holding companies or their successor with respect to exchanged or acquired KKR Group Partnership Units (whether exchanged or acquired before or after such transaction) would be based on certain assumptions, including that our intermediate holding companies would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the increased tax deductions and increased tax basis and other benefits related to entering into the tax receivable agreement. In these situations, our obligations under the tax receivable agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity.
Decisions made by our senior principals in the course of running our business, such as with respect to mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, may influence the timing and amount of payments that are received by an exchanging or selling holder of partner interests in the KKR Group Partnerships under the tax receivable agreement. For example, the earlier disposition of assets following an exchange or acquisition transaction will generally accelerate payments under the tax receivable agreement and increase the present value of such payments, and the disposition of assets before an exchange or acquisition transaction will increase a principals' tax liability without giving rise to any rights of a principal to receive payments under the tax receivable agreement.
Payments under the tax receivable agreement will be based upon the tax reporting positions that our Managing Partner will determine. We are not aware of any issue that would cause the IRS to challenge a tax basis increase. However, neither KKR Holdings nor its transferees will reimburse us for any payments previously made under the tax receivable agreement if such tax basis increase, or the tax benefits we claim arising from such increase, is successfully challenged by the IRS. As a result, in certain circumstances payments to KKR Holdings or its transferees under the tax receivable agreement could be in excess of the intermediate holding companies' cash tax savings. The intermediate holding companies' ability to achieve benefits from any tax basis increase, and the payments to be made under this agreement, will depend upon a number of factors, as discussed above, including the timing and amount of our future income.
KKR Group Partnership Agreements
We indirectly control the general partners of the KKR Group Partnerships and, through the KKR Group Partnerships and their subsidiaries, the KKR business. Because our Managing Partner operates and controls us, our Managing Partner's board of directors and our officers are ultimately responsible for all material decisions of the KKR Group Partnerships and the KKR Group Partnerships' businesses.
Pursuant to the limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships, our partnership, as the controlling general partner of KKR Fund Holdings L.P., KKR Management Holdings L.P. and KKR International Holdings L.P., have the indirect right to determine when distributions will be made to the holders of KKR Group Partnership Units and the amount of any such distributions.
On March 17, 2016, in connection with the issuance of the Series A Preferred Units and on June 20, 2016, in connection with the issuance of the Series B Preferred Units, the limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships were amended to provide for preferred units with economic terms designed to mirror those of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units.
The limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships provide for tax distributions to the holders of KKR Group Partnership Units if the general partners of the KKR Group Partnerships determine that distributions from the KKR Group Partnerships would otherwise be insufficient to cover the tax liabilities of a holder of a KKR Group Partnership Unit. Generally, these tax distributions will be computed based on our estimate of the net taxable income of the relevant partnership allocable to a holder of a KKR Group Partnership Unit multiplied by an assumed tax rate equal to the highest effective marginal combined U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate prescribed for an individual or corporate resident in New York, New York (taking into account the nondeductibility of certain expenses and the character of our income).
The limited partnership agreements of the KKR Group Partnerships authorize the general partners of the KKR Group Partnerships to issue an unlimited number of additional securities of the KKR Group Partnerships with such designations, preferences, rights, powers and duties that are different from, and may be senior to, those applicable to the KKR Group Partnerships Units, and which may be exchangeable for KKR Group Partnership Units.
Firm Use of Private Aircraft
Certain of our senior employees, including Messrs. Kravis and Roberts, own aircraft that we use for business purposes in the ordinary course of our operations. These senior employees paid for the purchase of these aircraft with their personal funds and bear all operating, personnel and maintenance costs associated with their operation. The hourly rates that we pay for the use of these aircraft are based on current market rates for chartering private aircraft of the same type. We incurred $3.9 million for the use of these aircraft during the year ended December 31, 2017, of which substantially all was paid to entities collectively controlled by Messrs. Kravis and Roberts.
Side-By-Side and Other Investments
Because fund investors typically are unwilling to invest their capital in a fund unless the fund's manager also invests its own capital in the fund's investments, our investment fund documents generally require the general partners of our investment funds to make minimum capital commitments to the funds. The amount of these commitments, which are negotiated by fund investors, generally range from 2% to 8% of a fund's total capital commitments at final closing, but may be greater for certain funds pursuing new strategies. When investments are made, the general partner contributes capital to the fund based on its fund commitment percentage and if applicable, acquires a capital interest in the investment that is not subject to a carried interest. Historically, these capital contributions have been funded with cash from operations that otherwise would be distributed to our employees.
In connection with the KPE Transaction, we did not acquire capital interests in investments that were funded by our employees or others involved in our business prior to October 1, 2009. Rather, those capital interests were allocated to our employees or others involved in our business and are reflected in our financial statements as noncontrolling interests in consolidated entities to the extent that we hold the general partner interest in the fund. Any capital contributions that our private equity fund general partners are required to make to a fund will be funded by us and we will be entitled to receive our allocable share of the returns thereon.
In addition, certain of our current and former employees and certain other qualifying personnel are permitted to invest, and have invested, their own capital in our funds, in side-by-side investments with our funds and the firm, as well as in funds managed by our strategic manager partnerships. Side-by-side investments are investments generally made on the same terms and conditions as those available to the applicable fund or the firm and, they, together with their investments in our funds or the funds managed by our strategic manager partnerships, are not generally subject to management fees or a carried interest. The cash invested by our current and former employees and certain other qualifying personnel and their investment vehicles aggregated to $505.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, of which $43.3 million, $39.0 million, $22.4 million, $7.3 million, $2.8 million, $0.8 million and $5.3 million was invested by Messrs. Kravis, Roberts, Bae, Nuttall, Janetschek, Sorkin and Fisher and their investment vehicles, respectively. These investments are not included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. In addition, our funds invested $9.2 million in 2017 from the commitments of certain investment vehicles associated with Mr. Hess. Such investments associated with Mr. Hess were made on the same terms and conditions as for other fund investors including management fees and/or a carried interest applicable to the relevant fund.
Indemnification of Directors, Officers and Others
Under our limited partnership agreement, in most circumstances we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts: (a) our Managing Partner; (b) any former Managing Partner; (c) any person who is or was an affiliate of our Managing Partner or any former Managing Partner; (d) any person who is or was a member, partner, Tax Matters Partner (as defined in the Code), officer, director, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of our partnership or our subsidiaries, any KKR Group Partnership, our Managing Partner or any former Managing Partner or any affiliate of us or our subsidiaries, our Managing Partner or any former Managing Partner; (e) any person who is or was serving at the request of our Managing Partner or any former Managing Partner or any affiliate of our Managing Partner or any former Managing Partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, Tax Matters Partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person (provided that a person shall not be an indemnitee by reason of providing, on a fee-for-services basis or similar arms-length compensatory basis, agency, advisory, consulting, trustee, fiduciary or custodial services); or (f) any person designated by our Managing Partner as an indemnitee. We have agreed to provide this
indemnification unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that these persons acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct. We have also agreed to provide this indemnification for criminal proceedings. Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our Managing Partner will not be liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or loan any monies or property to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. The indemnification of the persons described above shall be secondary to any indemnification such person is entitled from another person or the relevant KKR fund to the extent applicable. We may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons in connection with our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under our limited partnership agreement. We currently maintain liability insurance for directors and officers of our Managing Partner.
Each member of the board of directors, each as an indemnitee, has entered into an indemnification agreement with our Managing Partner and us. Each indemnification agreement provides that the indemnitee, subject to the limitations set forth in each indemnification agreement, shall be indemnified and held harmless by our Managing Partner on an after-tax basis from and against any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all threatened, pending or completed claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, and whether formal or informal and including appeals, in which the indemnitee may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, by reason of being or having been or having agreed to serve as a member of the board of directors, or while serving as a member of the board of directors, being or having been serving or having agreed to serve at the request of our Managing Partner as a director, officer, employee or agent (which, for purposes hereof, shall include a trustee, partner or manager or similar capacity) of another corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, whether arising from acts or omissions to act occurring on, before or after the date of such indemnification agreement. Each indemnification agreement provides that the indemnitee shall not be indemnified and held harmless if there has been a final and non-appealable judgment entered by an arbitral tribunal or court of competent jurisdiction determining that, in respect of the matter for which the indemnitee is seeking indemnification pursuant to the indemnification agreement, the indemnitee acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct.
Guarantee of Contingent Obligations to Fund Partners; Indemnification
The partnership documents governing KKR's carry-paying funds, including funds relating to private equity, mezzanine, infrastructure, energy, real estate, direct lending, special situations and core investments, generally include a "clawback" provision that, if triggered, may give rise to a contingent obligation requiring the general partner to return amounts to the fund for distribution to the fund investors at the end of the life of the fund. Under a clawback obligation, upon the liquidation of a fund, the general partner is required to return, typically on an after-tax basis, previously distributed carry to the extent that, due to the diminished performance of later investments, the aggregate amount of carry distributions received by the general partner during the term of the fund exceed the amount to which the general partner was ultimately entitled, including the effects of any performance thresholds. Excluding carried interest received by the general partners of funds that were not contributed to KKR in the KPE Transaction, as of December 31, 2017, $19.2 million carried interest was subject to this clawback obligation, assuming that all applicable carry-paying funds were liquidated at their December 31, 2017 fair values. Had the investments in such funds been liquidated at zero value, the clawback obligation would have been $1,920.9 million. Carried interest is recognized in the statement of operations based on the contractual conditions set forth in the agreements governing the fund as if the fund were terminated and liquidated at the reporting date and the fund's investments were realized at the then-estimated fair values. Amounts earned pursuant to carried interest are earned by the general partner of those funds to the extent that cumulative investment returns are positive and where applicable, preferred return thresholds have been met. If these investment amounts earned decrease or turn negative in subsequent periods, recognized carried interest will be reversed and to the extent that the aggregate amount of carry distributions received by the general partner during the term of the fund exceed the amount to which the general partner was ultimately entitled, a clawback obligation would be recorded. For funds that are consolidated, this clawback obligation, if any, is reflected as an increase in noncontrolling interests in the consolidated statements of financial condition. For funds that are not consolidated, this clawback obligation, if any, is reflected as a reduction of KKR's investment balance as this is where carried interest is initially recorded.
Prior to the KPE Transaction in 2009, certain principals who received carried interest distributions with respect to certain private equity funds contributed to KKR had personally guaranteed, on a several basis and subject to a cap, the contingent obligations of the general partners of such private equity funds to repay amounts to fund investors pursuant to the general partners' clawback obligations. The terms of the KPE Transaction require that principals remain responsible for any clawback obligations relating to carry distributions received prior to the KPE Transaction, up to a maximum of $223.6 million. Through investment realizations made to date, however, it is no longer possible for the principals to be required to pay any such clawback obligation. Carry distributions arising subsequent to the KPE Transaction may give rise to clawback obligations that may be allocated generally to KKR and principals who participate in the carry pool. In addition, guarantees of or similar
arrangements relating to clawback obligations in favor of third-party investors in an individual investment partnership by entities KKR owns may limit distributions of carried interest more generally.
Facilities
Certain trusts, whose beneficiaries include children of Mr. Kravis and Mr. Roberts, and certain other senior employees who are not executive officers of the Company, are partners in a real-estate based partnership that maintains an ownership interest in our Menlo Park location. Payments made from us to this partnership aggregated $7.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Confidentiality and Restrictive Covenant Agreements
Our employees have entered into confidentiality and restrictive covenant agreements that include prohibitions on our employees competing with us or soliciting clients or employees of our firm during a restricted period following their departure from the firm. For further information on these agreements, see "Executive Compensation—Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2017—Terms of Confidentiality and Restrictive Covenant Agreements."
Other Transactions with Related Persons
We have and may in the future continue to enter into ordinary course transactions with unaffiliated entities known to us to beneficially own more than 5% of any class of the outstanding voting securities of our partnership. These transactions may include investments by them in our funds generally on the same terms and conditions offered to other unaffiliated fund investors and participation in our capital markets transactions, including underwritings and syndications, generally on the same terms and conditions offered to other unaffiliated capital markets participants. See "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters."
Statement of Policy Regarding Transactions with Related Persons
The board of directors of our Managing Partner adopted a written statement of policy for our partnership regarding transactions with related persons (our "related person policy"). Our related person policy requires that a "related person" (as defined as in Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K) must promptly disclose to our General Counsel or other designated person any "related person transaction" (defined as any transaction, arrangement or relationship, or series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships, including, without limitation, any loan, guarantee of indebtedness, transfer or lease of real estate, or use of company property) that is reportable by us under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K in which we were or are to be a participant and the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and in which any related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest) and all material facts with respect thereto. Those individuals will then communicate that information to the board of directors of our Managing Partner. No related person transaction will be consummated without the approval or ratification of a committee of the board consisting exclusively of disinterested directors; provided, however, the conflicts committee of our board of directors has pre-approved: certain ordinary course transactions with persons known to us to beneficially own more than 5% of our outstanding common units on terms generally not less favorable as obtained from other third parties, including investments in our funds as limited partners and participation in capital markets transactions like underwritings and syndications; the renewal of pre-existing strategic relationships with an owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common units; the use of aircraft owned by our senior employees for business purposes; certain investments by eligible employees in our funds, in side-by-side investments with our funds and the firm, as well as in funds managed by our strategic manager partnership; and certain pro rata cash contributions to the KKR Group Partnerships for cash management purposes. It is our policy that directors interested in a related person transaction will recuse themselves from any vote on a related person transaction in which they have an interest.
Director Independence
Please see "Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Independence and Composition of the Board of Directors" for information on director independence.
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The following table summarizes the aggregate fees for professional services provided by Deloitte & Touche LLP, the member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited or their respective affiliates (collectively, the "Deloitte Entities") for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2017 | ||||||||
| KKR | Completed Transactions | |||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||
| Audit Fees | $ | 21,197 | (a) | $ | — | |||
| Audit-Related Fees | $ | 11,432 | (b) | $ | 13,603 | (d) | ||
| Tax Fees | $ | 33,946 | (c) | $ | 8,034 | (d) | ||
| All Other Fees | $ | 24 | (e) | $ | — |
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2016 | ||||||||
| KKR | Completed Transactions | |||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||
| Audit Fees | $ | 22,068 | (a) | $ | — | |||
| Audit-Related Fees | $ | 6,854 | (b) | $ | 6,769 | (d) | ||
| Tax Fees | $ | 30,804 | (c) | $ | 5,478 | (d) | ||
| All Other Fees | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
| (a) | Audit Fees consisted of estimated fees for each audit year for (1) the audits of our consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and services related to, or required by, statute or regulation; (2) reviews of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q; and (3) comfort letters, consents and other services related to SEC and other regulatory filings. Estimate to actual adjustments for settlements of audit fees are reflected in the year audit fees are settled. | |||
| (b) | Audit-Related Fees primarily included merger, acquisition and investment due diligence services for strategic acquisitions or investments in target companies for in-process transactions and transactions not completed. | |||
| (c) | Tax Fees consisted of fees for services rendered for tax compliance, planning and advisory services as well as tax fees for merger, acquisition and investment due diligence services for strategic acquisitions or investments in target companies for in-process transactions and transactions not completed. | |||
| (d) | Audit-Related Fees and Tax Fees included merger, acquisition, and investment due diligence services for strategic acquisitions or investments in portfolio companies that have been completed. In addition, the Deloitte Entities provided audit, audit-related, tax and other services to the portfolio companies, which are approved directly by the portfolio company's management and are not included in the amounts presented here. | |||
| (e) | All Other Fees in 2017 included real estate advisory services. |
Our audit committee charter, which is available on our website at www.kkr.com under "Investor Center - KKR & Co. L.P. - Corporate Governance -Audit Charter", requires the audit committee to approve in advance all audit and non-audit related services to be provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in accordance with the audit and non-audit related services pre-approval policy. All services reported in the Audit, Audit-Related, Tax, and All Other categories above were approved by the audit committee.
PART IV
Item 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report.
- Financial Statements
See Item 8 above.
- Financial Statement Schedules:
See Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts - Years Ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The other schedules are omitted as they are not applicable or the amounts involved are not material.
- Exhibits:
| 101 | Interactive data files pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T: (i) the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, (ii) the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, (iii) the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, (iv) the Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 (v) the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, and (vi) the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. |
| * | Management contract or compensatory plan in which directors and/or executive officers are eligible to participate. |
The agreements and other documents filed as exhibits to this report are not intended to provide factual information or other disclosure other than with respect to the terms of the agreements or other documents themselves, and you should not rely on them for that purpose. In particular, any representations and warranties made by us in these agreements or other documents were made solely within the specific context of the relevant agreement or document and may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time.
SCHEDULE
| SCHEDULE II—VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS | |||||||||||||||
| Valuation Allowance for Deferred Tax Assets | |||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Balance at Beginning of Period | Tax Valuation Allowance Charged to Income Tax Provision | Tax Valuation Allowance Credited to Income Tax Provision | Balance at End of Period | ||||||||||||
| Year Ended: | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2015 | $ | 4,153 | $ | 15,628 | (1) | $ | — | $ | 19,781 | ||||||
| December 31, 2016 | $ | 19,781 | $ | — | $ | 10,013 | (2) | $ | 9,768 | ||||||
| December 31, 2017 | $ | 9,768 | $ | 2,104 | $ | — | $ | 11,872 | |||||||
| (1) Includes an increase in valuation allowance due to foreign tax credits, the benefit of which is not currently recognizable due to uncertainty regarding realization. | |||||||||||||||
| (2) Includes a decrease in the valuation allowance for foreign tax credits claimed as a deduction on the 2015 tax return. |
Item 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
None.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| Date: | February 23, 2018 | ||
| KKR & CO. L.P. | |||
| By: KKR Management LLC, | |||
| its General Partner | |||
| /s/ WILLIAM J. JANETSCHEK | |||
| Name: | William J. Janetschek | ||
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act of 1934 this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated below on the dates indicated below.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ HENRY R. KRAVIS | Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer | |||
| Henry R. Kravis | (principal executive officer) of KKR | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Management LLC | ||||
| /s/ GEORGE R. ROBERTS | Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer | |||
| George R. Roberts | (principal executive officer) of KKR | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Management LLC | ||||
| /s/ JOSEPH Y. BAE | Director, Co-President and Co-Chief Operating | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Joseph Y. Bae | Officer of KKR Management LLC | |||
| /s/ SCOTT C. NUTTALL | Director, Co-President and Co-Chief Operating | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Scott C. Nuttall | Officer of KKR Management LLC | |||
| /s/ DAVID C. DRUMMOND | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| David C. Drummond | ||||
| /s/ JOSEPH A. GRUNDFEST | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Joseph A. Grundfest | ||||
| /s/ JOHN. B. HESS | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| John. B. Hess | ||||
| /s/ PATRICK F. RUSSO | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Patricia F. Russo | ||||
| /s/ THOMAS M. SCHOEWE | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Thomas M. Schoewe | ||||
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ ROBERT W. SCULLY | Director of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| Robert W. Scully | ||||
| /s/ WILLIAM J. JANETSCHEK | Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer) of KKR Management LLC | February 23, 2018 | ||
| William J. Janetschek |