Franklin Templeton, through its flagship real estate subsidiary Clarion Partners, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Stoneshield Capital. According to the firm, the transaction will triple Clarion’s assets under management (AUM) in Europe to $13 billion (€11 billion), increase Clarion’s overall AUM by 12% to $82 billion (€72 billion), and boost Franklin Templeton’s total alternative assets under management above $300 billion (€265 billion).
Stoneshield is a leading European manager specializing in sector-specific real assets, with $9 billion (€8 billion) under management. Its thematic investment strategies focus on sectors facing structural supply constraints, including residential and student housing, digital infrastructure, life sciences and innovation, hospitality, and critical infrastructure.
“The addition of Stoneshield represents an important milestone in Clarion’s development of an integrated real assets platform in Europe. Stoneshield’s focus on high-return investments and special situations perfectly complements our existing offering. This transaction expands our global investor relationships, diversifies our product lineup, and reinforces our long-term commitment to delivering strong performance and innovative investment solutions to our clients,” explained David Gilbert, CEO of Clarion Partners.
Expanded Presence in Europe
The manager noted that through the acquisition of Stoneshield, Clarion strengthens its footprint in Europe, complementing its established expertise in institutional logistics assets and net-lease real estate with Stoneshield’s capabilities in digital, residential, and industrial-logistics storage.
Currently, Stoneshield’s investment lineup features a series of diversified closed-end opportunistic funds, as well as an investment platform specifically tailored to the student housing and living sectors. The firm also holds strategic stakes in several of Europe’s leading and fastest-growing real asset platforms.
“We are very excited about the expansion opportunity in Europe, both by scaling Stoneshield’s opportunistic funds business and by developing new strategies around their investment themes. Stoneshield’s strategic stakes in various companies not only have the potential to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns, but we believe they will also generate new asset-level investment opportunities for current and future investment products,” added Josh Pristaw, President of Clarion Partners.
Stoneshield will serve as Clarion’s specialized platform for opportunistic investments in Europe and will maintain its offices in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Luxembourg. As part of the transaction, co-founders Juan Pepa and Felipe Morenés remain committed to leading Stoneshield for the long term, retaining responsibility over investment strategy, growth, and the firm’s day-to-day management. Working in close collaboration with Clarion Partners and Franklin Templeton, they will also play a central role in expanding the firm’s European real assets platform, developing new investment strategies across their areas of expertise, and creating innovative products for institutional and private banking clients globally. Together, they will continue to drive strategic growth opportunities through new investment themes, geographical expansion, and selective acquisitions.
Juan Pepa commented: “We are thrilled to join Clarion Partners’ investment management platform and look forward to further scaling the size and scope of our business in supply-constrained growth sectors. The transaction allows us to benefit from the advantages of a global platform while preserving our team, our strategy, and our culture.”
For his part, Felipe Morenés added: “We firmly believe that our partnership with Clarion Partners and Franklin Templeton will accelerate our growth and reinforce our commitment to generating value for our clients, backed by the long-term positive structural fundamentals of real asset investing across Europe.”
Franklin Templeton’s Strategy
According to Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, Stoneshield has built an extraordinary track record of superior risk-adjusted returns, and its integration into Clarion’s platform will position the team ideally for continued robust growth.
“We are delighted to welcome Stoneshield to Franklin Templeton. This combination strengthens our real asset capabilities in Europe and creates opportunities to extend the strengths of both Stoneshield and Clarion across different geographies. This acquisition represents another important step in our strategy to globalize our real asset capabilities, expand our private markets business, and enhance our offering for clients worldwide,” stated Johnson.
The transaction is expected to close during the fourth calendar quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory filings.
