Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire on a jam-packed Friday. Congratulations! This morning, the April issue of Buyouts is out, announcing the best private equity best exits of 2021. Francisco Partners took home the top prize of overall Deal of the Year and is the winner in the Mid-Market category for deploying its seasoned carve-out strategy to great effect with medical device maker Capsule Technologies, which FP sold to Royal Philips for $635 million. Big deal. The large market Deal of the Year goes to EQT for its sale of Aldevron to Danaher. For more on FP and EQT and all the winners, read the full report, which was spearheaded by Chris and Karl, with contributions from Kirk, Iris, Aaron, Eamon and me. Dealmaking down but private equity remains strong. “Global dealmaking fell to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic as surging inflation, tougher regulation and the war in Ukraine led to a slowdown in what had been a record period of mergers and acquisitions,” Financial Times reports. Elliott Management led the year’s two biggest PE-backed deals so far, “taking software company Citrix private alongside Vista Equity Partners for $16.5bn in January, and buying television ratings group Nielsen for $16bn in late March with Canadian group Brookfield.” Logistics. Wind Point Partners and Oaktree Capital Management teamed up last week to buy the intermodal division of XPO Logistics for $710 million and combine it with Wind Point’s portfolio company STG to form STG Logistics, a new entity co-owned and recapitalized by the two PE firms. PE Hub spoke with STG Logistics chief executive Paul Svindland about the deal and the dealmaking opportunities in the logistics sector. Read Obey’s story on the deal. Secondaries. William Blair is building GP-led secondaries advisory services, sources told Buyouts. Blair is one of several banks and financial advisers thinking about adding secondaries capabilities. Read Chris’ story on it. Car Talk. And finally, I spoke with a few folks this week who are shopping for new cars and have run smack into the microchip shortage. I reached out to the folks at financial advisory firm Stout, which released its Automotive Industry Annual Update this week, for some insight on how the shortage is affecting PE-backed deals. "This 2020-onward chip shortage supply chain bogey has been unlike any other the Tier I/II automotive supplier base has ever experienced,” David Hale, a director in Stout’s investment banking group, told me. Most PE-owned auto suppliers considering a sell-side engagement immediately pre-covid have likely delayed plans 18-24 months at least." Here’s wishing you a happy April Fools Day, filled with laughter. Until Monday, MK Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 