KKR Star Doubles His Empire in Bid to Grow Real Estate Unit (1)

When KKR & Co. thought about the future of a unit investing in the most sluggish part of private markets, it turned to a hot sector.

Infrastructure head Raj Agrawal got the nod to oversee KKR’s real estate unit in addition to his own earlier this year, handing him a newly combined business totaling about $171 billion at last count. Former global real estate head Ralph Rosenberg initially pitched the move, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the deliberations were private.

In doing so, Co-Chief Executive Officers Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall ...