KKR’s $1.4 Billion Perpetual Deal Endangered by Shock Tax Bill

KKR & Co.’s A$2.2 billion ($1.4 billion) acquisition of Australian fund manager Perpetual Ltd.’s wealth management business is in danger of collapsing after the deal was hit by an unexpected tax bill.

Perpetual shares fell the most in more than 16 months in early Sydney trading Tuesday after the company said it faces a A$488 million tax bill from the deal, which will slash the cash proceeds to be distributed to shareholders. While Perpetual said it considers it has strong grounds to dispute the levy, that could delay the deal. In the meantime, the two companies are engaging ...