Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is set to expand into Hong Kong in an early bet by the US private equity group on a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

The buy-out group, among the world’s largest, is planning to expand into Hong Kong in the next six to nine months, with its $2bn special situations unit to profit from investments into faltering and over-indebted companies.

The move comes amid increasing interest among distressed-debt investors in China. Bill Sonneborn, head of KKR Asset Management, said that the group was positioning itself for a period of more dented growth in the area. “If [large Asian economies such as China] would be slowing to half the rate of growth, that would be the equivalent of a massive recession in the US or Europe and would create opportunities to invest,” he told the Financial Times.