Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here, welcoming you back to the work week after the long weekend. If you’re feasting today for Mardi Gras - or Pancake Day, as it’s known in the UK – we’ll whet your appetite with a slew of food deals, including one announced this morning. We’ve also got a Deep Dive into Bridge Investment Group’s recently announced $320 million acquisition of Newbury Partners, an investor in GP secondaries, featuring an interview with Bridge’s executive chairman. And now some deals that’ll make you hungry. ICV Partners announced earlier this morning that it has acquired the Desi Natural and Noga brands and related assets from AUA Private Equity Partners-backed Raymundo’s Food Group to form Desi Fresh Foods, a Farmingdale, New York-based producer of dahi, or South Asian yogurt, and lassi, a drinkable south Asian yogurt. Foodies. We’re seeing an uptick in dealmaking activity involving food, as PE firms add new flavors to their portfolios, reports PE Hub Europe’s Irien Joseph. Several food deals have been announced in the first two months of the year. For example, earlier this month, Tasty Hut, backed by Triton Pacific Capital Partners, acquired a Pizza Hut restaurant in Monticello, Kentucky. Snack time. And in January, PE Hub’s Obey Martin Manayiti reported on half a dozen deals focused on snacks. For example, Brynwood Partners portfolio company Hometown Food Company, based in Chicago, recently acquired Birch Benders from Sovos Brands. Hometown’s baking brands include Pillsbury Baking, Funfetti, Hungry Jack, Arrowhead Mills, White Lily, Jim Dandy, Martha White and De Wafelbakkers. Birch Benders makes baking mixes and frostings, as well as pancake and waffle mixes. And now for something completely different… Liquidity. Real estate secondaries transaction volumes have risen an average of 16 percent annually over the past five years, as our colleagues at Secondaries Investor have reported. Capitalizing on the trend, Bridge Investment Group recently announced the $320 million acquisition of Newbury Partners, an investor in GP secondaries. The move is expected to tee off a new era of real estate secondaries, as well as other opportunities in the wider private equity market for both firms, Robert Morse, Bridge’s executive chairman, told Obey in an interview. As liquidity needs grow in times of dislocations, Morse said the combination of Bridge and Newbury will offer solutions to alternative asset investors who might have a change of plans, or whose capital is diminishing or need liquidity for whatever reasons. “The fact that there is a decrease in fundraising today should amplify the opportunities available for secondaries market participants.” That does it for today. Tomorrow, Buyouts’ Chris Witkowsky will write the Wire, and I’ll be back on Thursday. Cheers, MK Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 