U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co LP said in a statement it has expanded its Japan team ahead of the completion of its new pan-Asia fund worth $6 billion with new recruits from consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group.

Founded in 1976 and led by George Roberts and Henry Kravis, KKR hired Sakae Suzuki, a specialist at McKinsey in media and telecoms, technology and operations. Suzuki works for consultancy unit KKR Capstone, which focuses on improving KKR firms' operations.

KKR also lured Hiro Shimizu, head of financial institutions at the financing group of Goldman Sach Japan. Shimizu will be responsible for expanding the presence of special credit unit KKR Capital Markets in Japan.

The firm will be investing in Japan from the pan-Asia fund, set to become the largest in the region.

With $75.5 billion in assets under management at December 31 2012, KKR has over $5 billion investments in 28 Asian countries.