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The United States has sued private equity giant KKR, alleging the investment group “systematically flouted” its requirements to provide regulators and antitrust authorities with standard pre-merger documents during a wave of agreements in 2021 and 2022.
The lawsuit comes after lengthy settlement negotiations between KKR and the Department of Justice, where both sides reached an impasse over the DoJ’s demands for a significant monetary penalty and the installation of a drug monitor. agency within the New York-based private equity pioneer, according to securities filings. and people knowledgeable about the subject.
The lawsuit is one of the latest efforts by the DoJ’s antitrust unit to thwart anticompetitive private equity deals after Jonathan Kanter, its recently deceased chief, cracked down on buyout groups that included large swaths of the American economy.
This coercive measure is contested by KKR in a counter-action. The company, which manages more than $500 billion in assets, said the filing omissions were “inconsequential and inadvertent” and called the action an attempt to “weaponize” confusing financial documents on the eve of a leadership transition from President Joe Biden to the presidency. elect Donald Trump.
The DoJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on KKR’s countersuit.
This is a developing story
