Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday. It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the newsletter. We are capping off the week with a look at Capstone Partners’ October 2023 Automotive Aftermarket Sector Update that noted a couple of reasons why drivers are keeping old vehicles on the road, which in turn is opening opportunities for investors in the automotive aftermarket. I will close with some feedback from PEI’s Operating Partners Forum New York 2023 held this week. But first, let’s look at the latest from Charlesbank Capital Partners, which is investing in Petra Funds Group, a fund administrator working with private equity and debt firms. Fund administrator Charlesbank Capital Partners has made a majority investment in a fund administrator serving private investment firms. Please upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to find out more about this deal. Auto-aftermarket Capstone Partners, a middle market investment banking firm, released its October 2023 Automotive Aftermarket Sector Update, which highlighted that M&A volume in the sector has dropped to 230 transactions year to date from 310 deals over the same period last year. Please upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to find more insights from the Capstone report and other deals in the automotive aftermarket. Smooth operators With global private equity deals down 40 percent for the first three quarters of the year, many private equity firms have been turning inward, looking to get the most out of their existing portfolio companies. Value creation has become the name of the game. To that end, more than 700 people attendedPEI’s Operating Partners Forum New York 2023 earlier this week. My PE Hub colleagues MK Flynn, Michael Schoeck, Rafael Canton and I all spent time at the Forum. Please upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more about the conference. That’s it for this week. Craig McGlashan will be back with the newsletter on Monday. Have a nice weekend, Obey Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 