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10-K 1 kkr-2018123110xk.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, 2018

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. INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

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:

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 every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 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.

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 Class A common stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2018, was approximately $12.1 billion. As of February 12, 2019, the registrant had 533,486,948 shares of Class A common stock, 1 share of Class B common stock and 299,081,239 shares of Class C common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None

KKR & CO. INC.

FORM 10-K

For the Year Ended December 31, 2018

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 dividends on common or preferred stock of KKR, the timing, manner and volume of repurchases of common stock pursuant to a repurchase program, and the expected synergies and benefits 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 anticipated benefits and 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.

On July 1, 2018, we completed our conversion (the "Conversion") from a Delaware limited partnership named KKR & Co. L.P. into a Delaware corporation named KKR & Co. Inc.

In this report, references to "KKR," "we," "us" and "our" refer to (i) KKR & Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries following the Conversion and (ii) KKR & Co. L.P. and its subsidiaries prior to the Conversion, in each case, except where the context requires otherwise. KKR & Co. L.P. became listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") on July 15, 2010 under the symbol "KKR." KKR Management Holdings L.P., KKR Fund Holdings L.P. and KKR International Holdings L.P. are together referred to in this report as the "KKR Group Partnerships." 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 the 6.75% Series A Preferred Stock ("Series A Preferred Stock") and 6.50% Series B Preferred Stock ("Series B Preferred Stock") of KKR & Co. Inc., the KKR Group Partnerships have outstanding preferred units with economic terms designed to mirror those of the Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock, respectively. References to our Class A common stock, Series A Preferred Stock or Series B Preferred Stock for periods prior to the Conversion mean the common units, Series A preferred units and Series B preferred units of KKR & Co. L.P., respectively.

References to the "Class B Stockholder" are to KKR Management LLC, the holder of the sole share of our Class B common stock, 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 the Class B Stockholder.

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. KKR is in the process of evaluating a potential acquisition of KKR Capstone.

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 stockholders 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—Key Segment and Other Operating and Performance Measures" and "—Segment Balance Sheet."

This report uses the terms assets under management ("AUM"), fee paying assets under management ("FPAUM"), after-tax distributable earnings, fee related earnings ("FRE"), 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 Class A common stock outstanding, or to our Class A common stock outstanding on a fully exchanged and diluted basis, reflect (i) actual shares of Class A common stock outstanding, (ii) shares of Class A common stock 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) shares of Class A common stock issuable in respect of exchangeable equity securities issued in connection with the acquisition of Avoca Capital ("Avoca"), all of which have been exchanged as of December 31, 2018, and (iv) Class A common stock issuable pursuant to any equity awards actually granted from the Amended and Restated KKR & Co. Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (our "Equity Incentive Plan"). Our fully exchanged and diluted Class A common stock outstanding does not include (i) shares of Class A common stock available for issuance pursuant to our Equity Incentive Plan for which equity awards have not yet been granted and (ii) shares of Class A common stock 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").

On January 28, 2019, common stockholders of KKR & Co. Inc. approved the KKR & Co. Inc. 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (our "New Equity Incentive Plan") in a special stockholders meeting. Our New Equity Incentive Plan will become effective on March 29, 2019. See "Executive Compensation—KKR & Co. Inc. Equity Incentive Plan."

The use of any defined term in this report to mean more than one entities, persons, securities or other items collectively is solely for convenience of reference and in no way implies that such entities, persons, securities or other items are one indistinguishable group. For example, notwithstanding the use of the defined terms "KKR," "we" and "our" in this report to refer to KKR & Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries, each subsidiary of KKR & Co. Inc. is a standalone legal entity that is separate and distinct from KKR & Co. Inc. and any of its other subsidiaries.

PART I