Alternative asset management firm KKR & Co. is putting its infrastructure and real estate businesses under one roof, combining the two lines of business. The company hopes to capture opportunities that exist in both the infrastructure and real estate realms, such as data centers.
The combination of the two arms of KKR will mean global head of infrastructure Raj Agrawal will become global head of real assets, Bloomberg reported. Agrawal will now oversee day-to-day operations for real estate while Global Head of Real Estate Ralph Rosenberg will become chairman of real assets.
The new platform will have $157B in assets under management, including equity and credit, Bloomberg reported.
The reshuffle is reflective of a “growing convergence” between infrastructure and real estate, as seen in the scramble to build, buy and power data centers, Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this month, KKR and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a 19.9% stake for $2.8B in three power transmission companies in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. The companies are owned and operated by the utility American Electric Power, and acquiring the stake provides funds to build new infrastructure.
In an investor letter, KKR said that the joint infrastructure and real estate arm would be better able to move on opportunities in logistics as well as data centers.
The move also signals that investors see real estate and infrastructure investing as “part of the same strategy,” Bloomberg reported.
A representative for KKR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.