KKR expands infra, energy team to Asia

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the New York-based private equity giant, has expanded its energy and infrastructure team to Asia with a hire and a transfer, according to a firm statement.

The global firm has brought on Tony Schultz to serve as a managing director in Sydney. Schultz was most recently a managing director at energy-focused investment firm EIG Global Energy Partners in Sydney, where he focused on energy, metals and mining investments in the Asia-Pacific.

Ash Upadhyaya, a director at KKR’s energy and infrastructure team in New York, will also be transferring to Singapore to work with Schultz in the region. Prior to joining KKR in the US in 2011, Upadhyaya was a Senior Associate with Natural Gas Partners. He previously worked with Shell International Exploration & Production in the Netherlands, where he focused on the technical and economic evaluation of redevelopment plans for fields.

Having invested in the energy and infrastructure sectors for nearly three decades, KKR has investments that cover the full energy supply chain, including infrastructure and mining, oilfield services, petroleum, shale gas, social infrastructure, renewable energy and utilities assets. To date, however, those investments have largely been limited to North America and Europe.

“We are building our team in Asia Pacific to have the flexibility to work up and down a capital structure to provide solutions,” Justin Reizes, head of KKR Australia, said in the statement. “Tony and Ash will be working on energy, resources and infrastructure in Australia and Asia and will be part of a global team looking at metals and mining opportunities around the world.”

The addition of Schultz brings KKR’s energy and infrastructure team to 16 worldwide. It is unclear at this point where the Asia team will draw capital from to make investments, but a firm spokeswoman told Infrastructure Investor that there are several sources the firms could take from – including the regional private equity fund and the global infrastructure fund.

With $94.3 billion assets under management worldwide, KKR has about $5.6 billion committed to its global infrastructure and resources business.