Simpson Thacher represents Franklin Lexington Private Markets Fund (“FLEX”), a non-traded, semi-liquid perpetual fund registered as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, in connection with its formation, seeding structure and continuous public offering. Designed for wealth channel clients seeking long-term growth opportunities, FLEX offers access to an asset class that until recently was primarily available to institutional investors. The new fund comes to market with $904.5 million in assets under management through an initial partnership with two leading U.S.-based wealth management firms.
The Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing in a portfolio of private equity investments acquired through secondary transactions and co-investments in new private equity transactions alongside leading sponsors. Franklin Templeton Fund Adviser, LLC is the Fund’s investment manager. The Fund’s assets are managed by its sub-advisers, Lexington Advisors LLC and Franklin Advisers, Inc.
The Simpson Thacher team included Rajib Chanda, David Blass, Ryan Brizek, Debbie Sutter, Jessica Shieh and Yiran Wang (Registered Funds); Jonathan Goldstein and Andrew Mandelbaum (Tax); Lauren King, Sacha Gofton-Salmond, Caragh Jenkins, Gerardo Párraga and Tessa Dean (Fund Transactions); and Erica Rozow and Jeanne Annarumma (ERISA).