KKR Transition Paved Way for One-Share, One-Vote, Nuttall Says
KKR Transition Paved Way for One-Share, One-Vote, Nuttall Says
(Bloomberg) -- KKR & Co.’s executive changes provided an opportune time to move toward giving shareholders equal voting rights, said newly named co-Chief Executive Officer Scott Nuttall.
“It’s more of a transition, frankly, from a founder-controlled company to a more traditional public company format,” Nuttall said in an interview on Monday, after he and longtime colleague Joe Bae were elevated to co-CEOs by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR’s founders.
KKR announced plans to eliminate a class of preferred shares to give investors one-share, one-vote. It won’t occur until 2026. The move will come about eight years after the private equity giant converted to a corporation from a partnership and follows competitors including Carlyle Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc.
Nuttall said there was no “magic to the time frame,” adding “it felt like a sensible period of time to make that transition.”
The change also helps to streamline the New York-based firm’s corporate structure, Bae said in an interview.
Some Wall Street analysts speculated that one goal for KKR is inclusion in the S&P 500. Nuttall said that was “not a driving force behind the change.”
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