Fidelity, KKR form IPO alliance
Mutual fund giant will gain exclusive access to public listings of the private equity firm's companies.
LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Fidelity and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts announced Monday a deal that allows the mutual fund giant's customers to participate in initial public offerings of KKR companies.
Fidelity will gain exclusive access to all U.S. initial public offerings and follow-on offerings in which KKR participates.
The deal provides KKR, a buyout titan that has been behind some of the biggest take-private deals in history, a new retail distribution channel for its expanding capital markets business.
Private equity firms buy companies with mostly borrowed money and restructure or overhaul them. Then they usually take the businesses public or sell them to other buyers.
While the market for initial public offerings has slowed over the last few years, "we are beginning to see signs that it may be picking up momentum," said Mark Haggerty, president of Fidelity's institutional trading division. 
