KKR has agreed to acquire Arctos Partners in a transaction initially valued at $1.4bn, marking a significant expansion of the firm’s presence in sports investing, GP solutions, and private equity secondaries.

The deal includes $1.4bn of initial consideration, comprising $300m in cash and $1.1bn in equity subject to long-term vesting, plus up to $550m of additional equity tied to performance and KKR’s share price. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings per share immediately after closing.

Arctos, founded in 2019, manages about $15bn and is the largest institutional investor in professional sports franchise stakes. It is also a top-five provider of GP solutions through its Keystone platform, offering structured, non-dilutive capital to alternative asset managers. The firm is additionally active in secondaries, a market that reached about $226bn of LP-led and GP-led transaction volume in 2025, up 41% year on year.

Following the acquisition, Arctos will become a fully integrated investment unit of KKR. Managing partners Ian Charles and Doc O’Connor will join KKR as Partners, and Charles will lead a newly formed business, KKR Solutions. The platform will house Arctos’ sports investments, GP solutions activities, and a scaled secondaries strategy that KKR plans to build over time.

“Arctos has created a distinctive and scaled platform across sports investing and capital solutions for asset managers, and the team has extensive experience in secondaries—three areas where we see significant long-term opportunity,” said Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, co-chief executive officers of KKR.

For KKR, the acquisition deepens its exposure to long-duration and perpetual capital. After the transaction, perpetual and long-dated capital would account for 53% of KKR’s $759bn of assets under management, supporting earnings stability and distribution growth.

The deal also provides KKR with a differentiated entry point into professional sports ownership, where franchise values have historically shown long-term appreciation and investor demand continues to rise. Arctos is currently the only institutional investor approved for multi-team ownership across all five major US sports leagues.

“KKR is a preeminent global investment firm and ideally positioned to help us achieve the vision we have for Arctos,” said Ian Charles and Doc O’Connor. “We see tremendous opportunity to better serve the sports industry and the sponsor community.”

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and specified sports league consents.

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