Jan 8 (Reuters) - KKR & Co LP has hired Matt Salem and a team of debt experts from Rialto Capital Management with plans to start making real-estate debt investments for the first time since forming its property group in 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Salem will head the team of about a dozen people who will be responsible for making investments in preferred equity and other forms of junior credit by using funds from KKR's balance sheet, the Journal reported. (http://on.wsj.com/1IthJmU)
Salem and the team is expected to join KKR in a few weeks, the newspaper said, citing the source.
Prior to joining KKR, Salem was the managing director, Investment Management at Rialto Capital Management, a unit of Lennar Corp.
KKR declined to comment, while representatives at Rialto were not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Anand Basu)