KKR announces $1.25bn float plan

KKR is currently buying UK business Alliance Boots

Private equity group KKR is to float on the New York Stock Exchange.

Without revealing what share of the business it will sell, it said it hoped to raise as much as $1.25bn (£620m).

The float, which KKR said it aimed to complete by the end of 2007, follows after a similar move by fellow US private equity firm Blackstone.

KKR, which is currently buying UK chemist chain Boots, made the announcement in a filing to the US financial watchdog.

No windfalls

It told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it intended to use the proceeds to help grow the business.

Unlike the Blackstone float, KKR's owners said they would not receive any proceeds from the offering.

Blackstone's co-founders, Stephen Schwarzman, 60, and Peter Peterson, 81, earned more than $2.4bn between them from last month's share sale.

Formed in 1976, KKR is led by founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who are both now 63.