Ex-KKR exec Navab could target up to $4 bln for debut

Alex Navab, a former high-ranking leader at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, may have lofty ambitions for his debut fund.

Navab, who left KKR in 2017 after a leadership succession left him out, could target up to $4 billion for his debut, sources told Buyouts.

He’d be one of several big-name executives to leave their firms and chart their own path.

Others in recent years have included Andrew Balson, former senior executive at Bain Capital, who formed Cove Hill Partners, which raised more than $1 billion in its debut.

And former Lone Star Funds executive Samuel Loughlin left the firm last year and formed Paceline Equity Partners, which is targeting $1.25 billion for its first fund. Loughlin led North American investments at Lone Star.

Navab, former head of the Americas private equity business at KKR, left after the firm’s co-founders, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, named Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall co-presidents and co-COOs, Reuters reported last year.

Navab then launched Navab Holdings with a commitment from Goldman Sachs, but has not yet made a deal, sources said.

Instead, he is building up his organization and preparing for his first fundraising, they said. “He’s still kind of in the getting-organized stage,” one of the sources said.

Fund I could target $3 billion to $4 billion, sources said, but nothing is finalized. It’s not clear when Navab could bring the first fund to market. He did not respond to a message over LinkedIn.

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