From a WSJ 1996 article (link is behind the paid search feature). Looks so quaint. A mammoth fund:
KKR is harvesting big gains on sales of other companies it purchased in the 1980s, aggressively pursuing new investments and set to raise a mammoth new fund to rival the record $5.6 billion war chest it raised in 1987.
That can do $3B deals
So how can KKR wind up with the biggest war chest? What pension funds like is that they can invest a big wad of cash with KKR. And KKR, in turn, can do a $3 billion to $4 billion buyout, unlike most buyout firms. "Other funds create excellent returns, but we can't put the size and the amounts we want" at other buyout firms, says Jay Fewel, senior equity investment officer at Oregon state treasury, a longtime investor that is ponying up $800 million in the new fund.
And a different competitive set back then:
Thanks largely to RJR, KKR's returns appear to lag behind returns garnered by such fund groups as Forstmann Little & Co., Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Joseph Littlejohn & Levy, Morgan Stanley & Co.'s buyout group and others.