KKR Expands Territory with Joint CEO and Share Buybacks in Sports, Insurance, and Credit

KKR & Co. Inc. (“KKR”) announced on February 5 preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, reporting all-time highs in fee-based earnings, adjusted EPS and annual fundraising and investment volumes. Assets under management (AUM) rose 17% year-over-year to $744 billion, while fee-bearing AUM increased to $604 billion. KKR said it will acquire Arctos Partners—a professional sports equity investor—for roughly $15 billion and launch a new business unit, “KKR Solutions,” combining sports, secondaries and asset-manager capital solutions. The firm declared a $0.185 quarterly common dividend for Q4 2025 and plans to raise its regular annual dividend from $0.74 to $0.78 per share beginning in Q1 2026. Its subsidiary Global Atlantic also signed a new unsecured, 364-day revolving credit facility of $3 billion with Wells Fargo and other banks.

On February 9, insider Timothy R. Barakett purchased approximately 50,000 shares of KKR common stock on the open market, investing about $5.25 million. Then on February 17, co-CEO Scott C. Nuttall net-bought over 120,000 shares at prices between $102 and $103 per share—an additional investment of roughly $12.7 million—bringing his direct holdings to about 15.5 million shares. The filing also discloses his indirect stakes held through trusts, foundations and investment vehicles, noting that some positions are recognized only to the extent of their economic interest.

Recently, KKR signed an agreement to acquire Arctos Partners for approximately $1.4 billion, positioning it as the cornerstone of “KKR Solutions” to expand in sports investments, secondaries and capital solutions for asset managers. Separately, the firm is acquiring a stake in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres—one of Asia’s largest data-center operators—and has closed a roughly $2.5 billion Asia-Pacific credit fund, further growing its long-duration, fee-earning assets in data centers and private credit.

Founded in 1976, KKR is a U.S.-based global alternative investment manager covering private equity, infrastructure, real estate, credit and private insurance, serving institutional and individual investors worldwide. Amid high interest rates and growing demand from pension funds and institutional investors for diversified returns, major managers like KKR are broadening their platforms around long-hold alternative assets such as sports franchises, data centers, private credit and secondaries.