KKR Gets New MD To Lead Southeast Asia Equity Business

KKR & Co is relocating a managing director from India to Singapore to lead the firm's Southeast Asia private equity business, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

According to one of the sources, Prashant Kumar, who has been with KKR in Mumbai since 2018, will relocate to Singapore and begin his new role in July.

Kumar will collaborate with Ashish Shastry, a partner who oversees Southeast Asia and co-manages the firm's Asia Pacific Private Equity business.

Kumar, a Wharton School and Indian Institute of Technology alumnus, has invested in Indian companies such as deodorant maker Vini Cosmetics and drug maker JB Chemicals.

Kumar's departure comes after KKR has recently strengthened its Indian leadership. In 2020, it hired Gaurav Trehan from TPG Inc (TPG.O) to lead its Indian operations.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, KKR also hired Trehan's former colleague Akshay Tanna from TPG as a partner in its Indian private equity team last month.

The move also coincides with KKR's expansion into India and Southeast Asia. In 2021, it will raise $15 billion for its fourth Asia-Pacific focused private equity fund, one of the largest in the region for the asset class.

Since 2005, KKR has been investing in Southeast Asia, and its Singapore office opened in 2012. Its regional investments include private equity, real estate, and infrastructure.

Frontier Tower Associations, a KKR-backed telecom tower platform, paid $220 million in March for more than 100 telecom towers in the Philippines from broadband group PLDT.