The parent company of Franklin Templeton Investments is acquiring a majority stake in K2 Advisors Holdings L.L.C., a “fund of hedge funds” in Stamford.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Franklin Resources Inc. did not immediately specify the size of the deal, with TA Associates selling its shares and K2 management retaining their own minority stake in the company for now.
Beginning in 2016, Franklin Templeton will acquire the remainder of K2 over multiple years.
William Douglass III and David Saunders co-founded K2 in 1994, and plan to remain with the company. K2 has 115 employees and $9.3 billion in assets under management.
“This has been a management-led effort to seek out the best partner to replace TA,” Saunders said in a prepared statement. “We were attracted to Franklin Templeton’s established global presence and its extensive resources in distribution, operations and technology. Franklin Templeton’s network of portfolio managers, country heads on the ground and real-time information about global markets will be invaluable to K2 in executing our clients’ objectives.”
TA has offices in Boston and Menlo Park, Calif.
