KKR To Become 12% Shareholder In Henry Schein With Additional $250M Investment: Retail Cheers The Deal

Shares of KKR & Co Inc (KKR) and Henry Schein drew retail attention on Wednesday after it was revealed that the private equity giant will become a 12% common shareholder in the healthcare solutions firm.

KKR will invest an additional $250 million in the company’s common stock and will become the largest non-index fund shareholder in the company, with a 12% position.

Once the transaction is consummated, the company will issue new shares of common stock to funds affiliated with KKR for $250 million, based on market price.

The private equity firm will also be able to purchase additional shares via open market purchases up to a total equity stake of 14.9% in Henry Schein.

Max Lin and William K. Daniel will join Henry Schein’s board of directors as independent directors. Lin is a partner at KKR, where he leads the Health Care industry team within its Americas Private Equity platform, while Daniel is an executive advisor to KKR and former Executive Vice President at Danaher Corporation.

Meanwhile, Henry Schein and KKR will collaborate to pursue additional opportunities, explicitly focusing on strategic growth, operational excellence, capital allocation, and employee engagement, including exploring broad-based equity ownership.

Meanwhile, Henry Schein also reported preliminary earnings. The company's fourth-quarter preliminary revenue was $3.2 billion, bringing its revenue for the full year of 2024 to $12.7 billion.

The firm announced a preliminary GAAP net income for the fourth quarter at $94 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, resulting in a preliminary full-year 2024 GAAP net income of $390 million, or $3.05 per diluted share.

For 2025, Henry Schein expects revenues and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to grow in the low to mid-single digits compared to 2024.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to grow in a mid-single-digit range in 2025 as compared to 2024.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment surrounding Henry Schein was trending in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory (92/100), while for KKR, it was hovering in the ‘bullish’ territory (68/100).

HSIC’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 8:00 a.m. ET on Jan. 29, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits KKR’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 7:58 a.m. ET on Jan. 29, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

Henry Schein’s stock was trading over 3% higher in Wednesday’s pre-market session and has gained over 11% year-to-date. KKR shares have risen nearly 12% this year.

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