Markets Drop as KKR Unit Delays Payment

Concern about liquidity in the US has investors selling off in Asia
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:21 AM CST
Markets Drop as KKR Unit Delays Payment
Jacob A. Frenkel (L) President Merrill Lynch International, United Kingdom, and Henry R. Kravis, Founding Partner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., USA exchange business cards before a forum on economic growth during the World Economic Forum at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel 31 January, 2002.   (Getty Images)

Asian stocks slumped today after reports in the Financial Times that a struggling arm of private equity heavyweight Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. missed a second payment on billions of dollars of commercial debt just 6 months after two of its founders poured $270 million into the company. Investors cashed out as fears of a global credit meltdown flared, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

KKR Financial Holdings LLC, which invests in corporate debt and residential mortgages, has entered restructuring talks with its creditors, reports Bloomberg. Markets across Asia declined, with the Nikkei down 3.3%. Experts worried investors would continue to pull money from the markets, with some 1.46 million yen already withdrawn in January. “The picture is getting worse and worse,” said one analyst. (More KKR stories.)

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