Lexington returns to market with latest secondaries megafund

Lexington Partners, the third largest firm in secondaries according to the SI 30, has returned to market less than 16 months after setting a record last year with its biggest-ever fund.

The New York-headquartered firm is speaking to investors about Lexington Capital Partners X, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The firm hopes to raise at least $15 billion for the vehicle, one of the sources said.

The fund was registered in Delaware in April, public filings show.

If successful, Fund X would be the biggest standalone secondaries vehicle ever raised, knocking out both Ardian and Lexington’s own latest flagships, collecting $14 billion respectively last year.

Ardian raised $19 billion in total for its latest secondaries programme, including $5 billion of co-investment capital.

Lexington joins a handful of other secondaries giants returning to the fundraising trail this year. In April, Blackstone president and chief operating officer Jonathan Gray said the firm’s Strategic Partners unit would return to market “shortly” with its next flagship private equity secondaries fund and is expected to hold a first close in the second half of this year. Gray added he expects the fund to be larger than Fund VIII, which closed in 2019 on $11.1 billion.

Other firms seeking secondaries capital include ICG which is seeking $5 billion for ICG Strategic Equity IV; Partners Group which is seeking $4 billion for Partners Group Secondary 2020; and Glendower Capital which is targeting at least $3.5 billion for Glendower Capital Secondary Opportunities Fund V, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Lexington has been expanding its strategies over the past year. In January it partnered with Moonfare to become a buyer of stakes sold by investors on the online fundraising platform, while in March it hired the former president of Banco do Brasil as a senior advisor following the January opening of an office in Brazil.

Investors in Lexington’s current flagship include Florida Retirement System Trust Fund, which committed $250 million, Minnesota State Board of Investment which committed $150 million and Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri which committed $300 million, Secondaries Investor data show.

A spokesman for Lexington declined to comment.