Source: The American Prospect
by James Baratta
“The year 1978 is not just noteworthy for the election of Pope John Paul II and National Lampoon’s Animal House. It was also the year that a little investment banking firm known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts announced plans to take manufacturing conglomerate Houdaille Industries private through a leveraged deal, using the company’s assets and future cash flows as collateral to secure debt financing for the acquisition. Although KKR had completed three smaller deals the year before, its acquisition of Houdaille was the first leveraged buyout of a public company in modern history. The successful deal set the stage for KKR’s rapid expansion into the 1980s and beyond. Today, KKR is a publicly traded investment firm with $638 billion in assets under management. Despite some initial skepticism, Wall Street would go on to follow in the firm’s footsteps.” (04/29/25)
https://prospect.org/power/2025-04-29-private-equitys-do-or-die-moment/