FORTUNE — It’s tough to raise a new private equity fund. Even if you have decades of experience at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) on your resume.
Last summer we reported that former KKR executives Perry Golkin and Michael Tokarz were quietly raising a new private equity fund that would be marketed almost exclusively to public pension systems. Not surprisingly, it was called Public Pension Capital. The idea was to closely follow the so-called ILPA principles — a set of investor-friendly guidelines that focus primarily on fee and governance issues.
One month later, the pair secured a $100 million commitment from the Oregon Investment Council, contingent on the fund closing on its $500 million target within 12 months.
It sounded manageable at the time, with Golkin and Tokarz were talking about raising upwards of $1 billion. But they are falling short, and word is that Oregon is giving them a nine-month extension to get it done (through the end of next June).
“I still think they’ll make it, but clearly it’s been more difficult than they anticipated,” says a source familiar with the situation.
Golkin originally joined KKR in 1986, and worked on such deals as Willis Group, Primedia, Walter Industries, Rockwood Chemicals, and American Re-Insurance Company. He also served at various times as the firm’s head of financial services investing and head of fundraising, transitioning into a part-time advisory partner role in 2009.
Tokarz spent 18 years at KKR, before leaving in 2002 to form a private merchant bank and serve as managing principal and portfolio head of publicly-listed MVC Capital (MVC).
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