Global buyout major Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co Ltd (KKR) has strengthened its energy and infrastructure investment business in Asia with two new appointments. Tony Schultz has been appointed as managing director and will be based in Sydney, Australia, while Ash Upadhyaya, a director currently with KKR's Energy & Infrastructure team in the US, will relocate to Singapore as part of the new assignment.
Schultz comes in from energy and infrastructure-focused asset management firm EIG Global Energy Partners, where he served as a managing director focusing on energy, metals and mining investments in Asia.
Upadhyaya joined the PE firm in 2011 and has previously worked with Natural Gas Partners, with oversight of energy investments.
"KKR aims to create a unique offering in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources market, and part of that comes from combining our local geographic knowledge with industry expertise," KKR's Asia head Joe Bae and global head of energy & infrastructure Marc Lipschultz said in a joint statement.
"We are building our team in Asia Pacific to have the flexibility to work up and down a capital structure to provide solutions," said Justin Reizes, head of KKR Australia.
KKR has been an active investor in the energy and infrastructure sectors for nearly three decades. It manages investments in energy and infrastructure, including oilfield services, petroleum, shale gas, social infrastructure, renewable energy and utilities assets in markets such as France, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and North America.
The PE giant, with a total $94.3 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2013, manages $8.7 billion dedicated to energy and infrastructure.
Recently, KKR announced that it has raised fresh $2 billion fund to invest in oil and gas assets in North America. The new energy fund, which had its first close last September with $1.4 billion in commitments, has already started investing and has invested over $350 million of equity so far.
In India, KKR’s energy and infrastructure related investments include Avantha Power and Bharti Infratel.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
