By: Mike Allen

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., the buyout giant, plans to announce Monday that it will become a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said advisers to the firm.

The New York-based firm’s business model will remain the same: buying companies, growing and improving them, then taking them public again.

The change, which comes at a time when such firms have become a popular target on Capitol Hill, means more scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other Washington regulators.

But it allows KKR to raise more capital and match competitors that have gone public, most notably the Blackstone Group.

The firm had announced its plans to go public back in July 2007. KKR will complete the process by merging with an Amsterdam-listed fund created by the firm.

The listing had been sought by markets in London, Hong Kong and Singapore, but this approach keeps the cash in the United States, the advisers pointed out.

KKR describes itself as “leading global alternative asset manager that sponsors and manages funds that make investments in private equity, public equity and debt transactions.”

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