Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
Lexington Partners, one of the world’s largest managers of secondary private equity and co-investment funds, has opened a new office in Abu Dhabi, expanding its global presence to nine offices across four continents, the firm announced.
The New York-based firm said the Abu Dhabi office marks an important milestone in strengthening its long-standing relationships with investors in the Middle East and enhancing its ability to serve institutional allocators and partners across the region. Lexington’s global platform already includes offices in key private equity hubs such as New York, Boston, Menlo Park, Miami, London, Hong Kong, Santiago and Luxembourg.
Lexington Partners is part of Franklin Templeton’s alternatives business, alongside specialist managers including credit manager Benefit Street Partners and real estate firm Clarion Partners. The firm was founded in 1994 by Don Cornwell, Brendan Cunningham and Michael Struck and was acquired by Franklin Templeton in 2022, where it now operates as a global specialist in secondary private equity and co-investment strategies.
The Abu Dhabi operation will be spearheaded by Doug Bourne, Managing Director on the Investor Relations team, who will lead fundraising efforts and manage relationships with investors and advisers in the Middle East. Bourne joined Lexington in 2025 from Schroders, where he served as Head of Middle East and Central Asia based in Dubai, and previously held the position of Director of Middle East Institutional Sales at BlackRock. He holds a BA in Political Science from Durham University.
Supporting the expansion is Thomas Dunn, a Director on the secondary investment team, who relocated from Lexington’s London office to Abu Dhabi. Dunn focuses on the evaluation and monitoring of non-US secondary opportunities, including partnership and GP-led transactions. He joined Lexington in 2018 from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, where he worked in private equity, and previously held a role in the healthcare mergers and acquisitions team at Rothschild. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, with an MA in Economics.
Commenting on the expansion, Wil Warren, Partner and President of Lexington, said opening an office in Abu Dhabi represented a natural extension of the firm’s global platform. “Opening in Abu Dhabi represents a natural extension of Lexington’s global platform and builds upon our long-term relationships across the Middle East,” he said. “The region has been an increasingly important partner for us, and we are delighted to have Doug and Thomas establishing a permanent presence to better serve our investors and partners on the ground.”
Bourne said the move would allow the firm to deepen its engagement with regional investors. “I am fortunate to have the opportunity to bring my relationships in the region to a firm such as Lexington with its strong reputation in the market and leading position in its investment strategies,” he said.
Lexington manages more than $82 billion in total capitalisation and has helped pioneer institutional secondary investing. In October, the firm said its latest co-investment fund, Lexington Co-Investment Partners VI (CIP VI), surpassed both its $4 billion target and the $3.5 billion raised by its predecessor in 2021, attracting commitments from existing and new investors in the Middle East, underscoring the region’s growing role in its investor base.
