Blackstone, Brookfield, and KKR tap insurance capital to finance $16B Kuwait pipeline deal

Three of the world’s most powerful alternative asset managers just closed a deal that makes most infrastructure investments look like rounding errors. Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, and KKR have collectively financed a $16 billion lease-and-leaseback agreement with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company, gaining usage rights to the country’s domestic and export crude oil pipeline network. The transaction, dubbed Project Peregrine, represents the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history. And the fuel powering the Wall Street side of this deal? Insurance industry capital. How the deal is structured The three firms each hold an equal one-third share of a 49% stake in a newly created Kuwait-based joint venture. Kuwait Oil Company retains 51% ownership and full operational control of the assets, a detail that keeps sovereign authority firmly intact while unlocking billions in outside capital. The JV secures usage rights to 13 pipelines stretching approximately 320 kilometers across Kuwait. The agreement runs 20.5 years and operates on a volume-based tariff model, meaning the investors earn returns tied to how much crude actually flows t...