Morning Hubs! Hope all is well. This will be my last column of 2023, which has been – as always – a year full of surprises and interesting developments. Probably my favorite subject to cover has been the rise and innovations around continuation funds as well as GPs’ efforts to find paths to liquidity for their older investments. I would say the hunt for liquidity has been the biggest story of the year, the shift in LPs’ minds from simply sifting through strong performers to finding managers actually returning capital. Slowing distributions and lack of exits have implications across the industry. Will the outlook improve next year? Rate cuts would go a long way to helping revive deal activity. What do you think? What was the most surprising development this year in PE world? Hit me up at christopher.w@pei.group with your thoughts. Today we have an interview with Alan Cline, head of North America for Hg. Sentinel Capital announces the acquisition of High Bar Brands from Heartwood Partners. Madison Dearborn, HPS agree to exit NFP to Aon. Upgrade to the premium version to discover all the details on the deals. Expanding Hg, the UK based tech-focused investor, brought on former Vista Equity executive Alan Cline earlier this year to help lead the firm’s North America expansion. Cline chatted with Obey Martin Manayiti about his outlook for deal activity as well as the firm’s efforts around AI. Read the full interview here on PE Hub. Heavy duty Sentinel Capital announced the acquisition of High Bar Brands, which makes and distributes aftermarket products for heavy-duty trucks and trailers. Sentinel Capital is acquiring the business from Heartwood Partners, which invested in the company through its third fund. Read more here on PE Hub. Exit Madison Dearborn and HPS Investment Partners agreed to sell NFP, a mid-market property and casualty broker, benefits consultant, wealth manager and retirement plan adviser, to Aon. Read more here on PE Hub. CV Ardian, HarbourVest Partners and Hamilton Lane stepped up as lead investors on Hellman & Friedman’s strip sale process across four assets, three of which are held in continuation funds. Read more here on Buyouts. Rockstars We're starting to work on our annual Women in PE feature that runs in March. We're looking for recommendations from you, Dear Reader, on rock star women in the industry. We're mostly interested in women working on the deal side of the business, since that is the area that has traditionally been dominated by men, but we will include women who work in IR and on the LP side as well. Send your recs to me (christopher.w@pei.group) by Jan. 19. Nominations should include short bios of the candidate that include accomplishments both in their professional career as well as a snapshot of activities outside of work. The Women in PE feature includes 10 mini-profiles of superstar women in the business as the March cover story, along with additional feature coverage. (Let us know if you have thoughts on some topics to touch on.) Check out past coverage here. That’s it for me. Have a great rest of your Wednesday! Hit me up with feedback, tips n’ gossip or book recommendations at christopher.w@pei.group or find me on LinkedIn. Michael Schoeck will be with you tomorrow. Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 