Good morning, PE Hubsters! Rafael Canton here filling in for MK Flynn with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom. First, we have a deep dive into Clarion Capital’s deal to acquire dance studio franchise Arthur Murray International. After that, we have a deal from this morning. Xerox Holdings Corporation has agreed to acquire Lexmark International. Then, we have insights on 2025 dealmaking from KPMG through its end of year survey. Finally, we’ll end with a mention of PE Hub’s Deal of the Year Awards. Just dance Clarion Capital Partners faced two challenges when acquiring dance studio franchise Arthur Murray International: honoring the company’s 112-year-old history and legacy while looking to close on the deal quickly as owner and CEO Philip Masters was 97 years old. To learn more about the deal, PE Hub’s Iris Dorbian caught up with Clarion partner Eric Kogan. Upgrade to the premium version to learn more about the key reasons for Clarion’s acquisition of Arthur Murray and how it plans to grow the company. Printing press In a deal announced this morning, Xerox Holdings Corporation has agreed to acquire Lexmark International. Premium subscribers can learn more about the deal. Deals on the way As we’ve highlighted throughout the year, there is an expectation that dealmaking is expected to pick up in 2025. KPMG released its year-end M&A survey which shares similar sentiments. Subscribe to the premium version of the Wire to gain access to learn some key insights from the report. Deal of the Year Awards Let’s end with another look towards next year. PE Hub is now accepting nominations for the 35th annual Deal of the Year Awards, which honor exceptional buyouts that were fully or mostly realized in 2024. The deadline for submission is Friday, January 10, 2025. Winners will be selected in six categories, plus an overall winner, and the results will be published on pehub.com in March. PE Hub’s Deal of the Year Awards 2025 categories are: Large-Cap North America – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $1 billion or more Large-Cap Europe – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $1 billion or moreMid-Cap North America – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $200 million to $1 billion Mid-Cap Europe – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $200 million to $1 billionSmall-Cap North America – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $100 million to $200 million Small-Cap Europe – recognizing the sale of a company with an enterprise value at the time of the exit of $100 million to $200 millionDeal of the Year – recognizing one of the category winners as the best LBO exit of 2024. This will be given to the single deal that stands out for its innovation and execution. There is no separate nomination for this category. That’s it from me today. If you have any questions, thoughts, or want to chat, please email me at [email protected] Tomorrow, Nina Lindholm will be with you for the Europe edition of the Wire and Obey Martin Manayiti will bring you the US edition. Cheers, Rafael Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 