According to a statement, Franklin Templeton will acquire the remainder of K2 over a multi-year period. Meanwhile, the proceeds of the acquisition will be used by K2 to purchase all of the equity currently held by TA Associates and to retire all of K2’s debt obligations.

The current management of K2 will not sell any of its interests at this time and will receive no up-front consideration in the deal.  No changes are planned for the K2 investment management processes.

“The continued development of our alternatives platform has been a core strategic initiative for Franklin Templeton, and to that end, we’ve focused on creating new investment strategies and broadening our distribution capabilities across multiple channels," said William Yun, executive vice president, Franklin Templeton Alternative Strategies. "K2 is an important addition to those capabilities, particularly as institutional investors continue to shift allocations towards the hedge fund and fund of hedge funds space and to look for multi-asset solutions providers."

K2 was co-founded in 1994 by William Douglass and David Saunders and is based in Stamford, CT.