Private equity giant KKR has closed its $4.7 billion acquisition of Global Atlantic Financial Group. Global Atlantic is an annuity and life insurance company serving more than two million policyholders and with $90 billion in assets to be managed by KKR.
One of the key reasons behind the initial transaction was the addition of Global Atlantic’s managed assets to KKR’s. It’s especially attractive since insurance companies have been turning increasingly to private equity firms as traditional credit investments have failed to deliver attractive returns in this low rate environment.
However, since the acquisition, Global Atlantic’s business strengths have been on full display. It has grown its managed assets by roughly 25% since the deal was first announced through three major reinsurance block transactions.
Global Atlantic will operate as a consolidated subsidiary of KKR under the continued leadership of its current CEO, Allan Levine.