KKR Acquires Stake in HRM Platform Employment Hero from SEEK Investments

February 17, 2025 at 17:03 PM EST

Transaction marks KKR’s latest technology growth investment in Australia

SEEK Growth Fund continues to be a material investor in the company

KKR, a leading global investment firm, Employment Hero, a global leader in employment management solutions, and SEEK Investments, manager of the SEEK Growth Fund, a long-term investment fund focused on human capital management, today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which funds managed by KKR will acquire a stake in Employment Hero (“the Company”) from SEEK Investments. The SEEK Growth Fund continues to be a material investor in Employment Hero.

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Founded in 2014, Employment Hero is a leading employment management platform that provides end-to-end human resources management, payroll, recruitment, and employee engagement tools covering every stage of the employee lifecycle. Over the past decade, the Company has grown its footprint to serve more than 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises globally.

Mukul Chawla, Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Growth Equity, KKR, said, “Employment Hero marks our latest technology growth investment in Australia, a key market for our growth equity strategy, and aligns with our thematic focus on SMB (small and medium business) software. We look forward to supporting the continued platformisation and international expansion of Employment Hero, which has established itself as a leader in human resources management in multiple markets including Australia, the UK, and Canada with its cloud-native and comprehensive product suite.”

For Employment Hero, KKR’s investment builds on its strong growth momentum and follows its acquisition of leading Canadian employment platform Humi in January. In addition, the Company has surpassed A$250 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Ben Thompson, CEO and Co-Founder at Employment Hero, said, “Employment Hero’s mission is to make employment easier and more valuable for everyone. Over 300,000 businesses globally are using our employment operating system, helping boost job creation for local economies and GDP globally. Our recent milestone of A$250 million in annual recurring revenue also signals the growing customer demand for our Jobs, Payroll, HR and Benefits products to drive better business outcomes. KKR’s significant experience, resources and network will be extremely valuable in our efforts, particularly as we look to further develop our international footprint. We welcome KKR as a strategic partner and look forward to our close collaboration with them over the long term.”

Commenting on the transaction, Andrew Bassat, Executive Chairman and CEO of SEEK Investments, said, “The SEEK Growth Fund has been a long-term investor and supporter of Employment Hero. We retain our high conviction towards Employment Hero’s strategy and outlook. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Ben and working with KKR to help Employment Hero realise its full potential.”

KKR makes its investment from its Asia Next Generation strategy. This marks KKR’s latest growth equity investment in Australia, following Advanced Navigation, a developer of AI robotics and navigation technology, and the latest investment from the strategy focused on technology enablement for businesses, including SmartHR, a cloud-based HR management software in Japan; GrowSari, a B2B e-commerce platform for SMEs in the Philippines; KiotViet, a SaaS platform for SMEs in Vietnam; and Privy, a digital trust provider in Indonesia.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of calendar year 2025.

About Employment Hero

Employment Hero is the global authority on employment, offering a world-leading Employment Operating System (eOS) that simplifies and optimises every stage of the employment process. Its award-winning platform combines HR, payroll, recruitment, and employee engagement tools with the groundbreaking employment superapp, Employment Hero Jobs, which integrates career management and financial wellbeing. Serving over 300,000 businesses and managing more than 2 million employees worldwide, Employment Hero reduces administrative burdens by up to 80%, enabling organisations to focus on their goals and create more productive, engaged teams. By revolutionising the employment marketplace, Employment Hero is making employment easier, more valuable, and rewarding for everyone. For more information, visit employmenthero.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at www.globalatlantic.com.

About SEEK Investments

SEEK Investments is the manager of the SEEK Growth Fund a long-term investor and business builder currently focused on Human Capital Management. The Fund includes a portfolio of high-growth HCM businesses in Ed-tech, HR SaaS and contingent labour. SEEK Investments builds upon its team’s 100+ years of experience in investing and operating high growth technology businesses. The Fund has assets under management of over A$2 billion.