Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday! It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the Wire. There is another round of air pollution in New York and other parts of North America this morning because of the wildfires in Canada. Hopefully this will clear up as we start the weekend, but it reminded me of a story that I did recently about Ardian’s investment in the Tom Barrow Company, a commercial HVAC business with emphasis on maintaining good air quality. In other news, we are capping off the week with a look at six aviation private equity-backed deals benefiting from the recovery of travel after the pandemic. But let’s start with a deal announced this morning. Smarter, faster decisions Gurobi Optimization, a portfolio company of the St. Louis Thompson Street Capital Partners, acquired October Sky, a Japan-based provider of mathematical optimization services. Subscribers can read more about the deal here. Flying high The aviation market has almost bounced back following the pandemic-induced hiatus. PE firms are also picking up opportunities, banking on the attractive sector tailwinds in services such as maintenance and repair, upgrades, aftermarket equipment and more. In June alone, PE Hub noted three deals from Bain Capital Special Situations, New State Capital Partners and AE Industrial Partners. I have them all in the story, along with three other deals announced earlier in the year. Subscribers can read about the deals here. Pride Month Meanwhile, my PE Hub Europe colleague Nina Lindholm did a series featuring members of the LGBTQ+ community in private equity. Today, we’re featuring Nina’s interview with Rob Heyvaert, the founder and managing partner of New York-headquartered Motive Partners, Hamilton Lane’s Ada Pospi and Inovia Capital’s Michael McGraw. That’s it for me today. PE Hub editor-in-chief MK Flynn will be back with the newsletter on Monday. Have a nice weekend. Cheers, Obey Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 