By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- KKR & Co LP (NYSE:KKR) announced that it has taken a minority holding in WPP-backed (LON:WPP) FGS Global, in a deal valuing the strategic advisory and financial communications firm at just under $1.43 billion.
Under the terms of the deal, WPP will remain the majority owner in FGS. KKR, meanwhile, will purchase the stake from Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity group.
FGS Global, which operates across 27 global offices, provides public relations services to over 1,600 clients. FGS was created over the past few years, beginning with a merger in 2020 of three firms controlled by advertising giant WPP: London-based Finsbury, Frankfurt-based Hering Schuppener and Washington, D.C.-based Glover Park Group. The combined group then purchased U.S. rival Sard Verbinnen a year later.
“Our investment in FGS is the latest example of our focus on proprietary, strategic partnership investments where we are providing long-term capital and a global network of resources to an entrepreneurial management team and alongside a world-class business," said KKR co-head of European private equity Philipp Freise in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter this year.