Flexstone Partners to Acquire Glouston Capital Partners to Form $15 Billion Private Equity Platform

Flexstone Partners (Flexstone), a global private markets investment manager with $12 billion assets under management (AUM) and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers with $1.4 trillion AUM, announced it has agreed to acquire Glouston Capital Partners (Glouston), a Boston-based private equity secondaries manager with over $3.4 billion in assets under management. The combined platform will manage more than $15 billion in assets across Primary, Co-Investment, and Secondary strategies, serving institutional investors across North America, Europe, and Asia.

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The combined firm brings together two highly complementary businesses – Flexstone’s global primary and co-investment platform and Glouston’s North American secondary capabilities – operating primarily in distinct geographies with minimal strategic overlap. Glouston’s experienced team, deep General Partner (GP) relationships, and rigorous approach to the North American middle market materially strengthens Flexstone’s secondaries platform and its ability to serve the evolving needs of institutional investors.

“Flexstone Partners is pleased to welcome Glouston Capital Partners’ experienced team as we move into a new phase of growth,” said Eric Deram, Managing Partner and CEO of Flexstone Partners. “Glouston’s team brings a complementary investment philosophy to the middle-market landscape and a long history of disciplined execution. Their secondaries expertise aligns with our culture and expands the breadth of strategies that Flexstone can offer investors across our private equity platform.”

Flexstone’s investment and management teams will remain intact, ensuring continuity for clients while adding strong middle-market secondaries expertise. Glouston’s investment strategy and investment team will also remain intact following the closing of the transaction. The six Glouston partners will continue to manage the secondary business from Boston, applying the same investment process and criteria that have defined the firm’s investment strategy.

“This partnership is a natural evolution for Glouston Capital Partners. Flexstone’s global platform, complementary GP relationships, and strong distribution network will allow us to expand our reach while preserving the investment discipline and team-based decision-making that our LPs value,” said Red Barrett, Senior Managing Partner, Glouston Capital Partners. “We are excited to join forces and continue building a leading secondary platform with the resources and scale to compete effectively in today’s market.”

As part of the transaction, Glouston’s partners will roll a substantial portion of their equity into the combined firm and will become Managing Partners of Flexstone, ensuring meaningful alignment of interest. Flexstone partners will also invest additional equity alongside Glouston’s team.

“We are seeing rapidly growing demand from investors for scaled, high quality private markets solutions. Private assets are a core pillar of Natixis Investment Managers’ long term growth plan with Flexstone Partners playing an essential role,” said Philippe Setbon, CEO, Natixis Investment Managers. “Glouston Capital Partners’ seasoned team, deep institutional relationships, and differentiated middle market focused strategy nicely complement Flexstone’s private equity business. This newly integrated entity is uniquely positioned to meet the evolving needs of clients in one of the fastest growing segments of private markets.”

The combined platform will operate across five offices – New York, Boston, Paris, Geneva, and Singapore – with 37 investment professionals. Flexstone will continue to manage its primary and co-investment strategies across private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and real estate, serving an institutional LP base predominantly in Europe in Asia. Glouston will lead the combined firm’s secondary strategy and U.S. distribution, with the Flexstone secondary team – three professionals in Europe and one in New York – joining forces with Glouston’s investment leadership.

Glouston’s strategies will be rebranded under the Flexstone Partners name following the close of the transaction. The Glouston team will continue to operate from Boston as part of Flexstone’s expanded global platform. Existing fund structures, LP agreements, and investment mandates will not be affected by the rebranding.

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