Natixis to launch global secondaries fund

The manager has merged its three fund of funds units to form Flexstone Partners with $6.7bn in AuM.

Natixis Investment Managers is planning to raise a global secondaries vehicle following the merger of its three fund of funds units.

The Paris-headquartered asset manager announced on Thursday that it had combined its three regional funds of funds – Geneva-based Euro Private Equity, Singapore-based Eagle Asia Partners and New York-based Caspian Private Equity –  to form Flexstone Partners with $6.7 billion in assets under management.

Plans for the unit’s global secondaries fund are in the early stages, Flexstone chief executive Eric Deram, who was previously founder and managing partner at Natixis’s Euro Private Equity, told sister publication Private Equity International.

The planned size of the secondaries vehicle is unclear. The firm also plans to launch a global co-investment fund.

Euro Private Equity, which was the firm’s Europe-focused fund of funds, held a €199 million first close on its sophomore secondaries vehicle Select Opportunities II in July. Deram said the firm expects to hold a final close on its €250 million target by June next year.

The merger is part of Natixis’s 2020 plan to increase its assets under management in alternatives and to offer global products and solutions to its existing investors. Following the merger, the three entities will have a combined team of more than 40 across the offices.

“This is a growth story,” Deram said. “As an investor there is a scale that you need to be to access the best GPs and LPs.”

Flexstone will retain all existing teams following the merger and plans to recruit more investment and support staff in the next year, Deram said, noting that the firm has no plans to change its fund relationships, commitments or dedicated accounts.

The unit makes primary, secondaries and co-investments in the small and mid-cap segments in Europe, the US and Asia.