KKR said to seek B-D license

Looking toward an initial public offering, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is seeking a securities broker-dealer license, TheDeal.com said. Private equity rival Blackstone Group jumped into the public pool for the first time last Friday and raised $4.13 billion. However, Blackstone has held a broker-dealer license for a long time, a requirement for firms that handle securities sales, including mergers and acquisitions. Should KKR receive such a license from NASD, it could open diverse business possibilities, such as a restructuring advisory division or an M&A advisory unit, an unnamed private equity executive told TheDeal.com. A license would also help the firm put its equity syndication activities, such as equity bridges, on firm legal footing. These bridges bring banks together to help finance large deals with equity, but since the transactions involve private placements of securities, they could fall under NASD’s oversight, a buyout executive said to TheDeal.com. A NASD officer told TheDeal.com that KKR has not received a broker-dealer license and had no way of knowing whether the firm had formally applied for one. A KKR spokeswoman declined comment on the matter.