Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire. There’s a flurry of deal announcements this morning, as dealmakers scramble to finish up before the year ends. Let me draw your attention to two deals: KKR has led the purchase of a $7.2 billion portfolio of prime recreational vehicle loans from BMO and Clearlake Capital and Insight Partners are taking software firm Alteryx private for $4.4 billion. Check out PE Hub’s News in brief section, led by Iris Dorbian, for more on these deal announcements and others, including an acquisition announced this morning by Yellow Wood and another one by Audax. Looking back: What do Blackstone’s Anushka Sunder, enterprise software and ChatGPT have in common? Scroll down to find out! Looking forward: What’s the forecast for dealmaking in 2024? PE Hub has been asking thought leaders in private equity, and EQT’s Alex Darden weighs in today. Top stories As the year winds down, I’ve been taking a look back at the stories we wrote that most resonated with you, dear Reader. Here are five of the year’s most popular stories on PE Hub: My exclusive back in February about Blackstone's tapping Anushka Sunder to head healthcare for PE North America topped PE Hub's list of the most read stories of 2023. Another story popular with our readers was Obey Martin Manayiti’s feature, Why private equity firms still love enterprise software As dealmakers grappled with how to leverage new technologies, Rafael Canton’s story, How ChatGPT, generative AI are beefing up PE deal sourcing, became essential reading for many. The emergence of streaming platforms as a viable alternative to movie theaters at the height of the pandemic left a lasting imprint on the sector, making multiplatform entertainment especially alluring for private equity, wrote Iris Dorbian in a story that drew readers’ attention. Iris rounded up the deals in her story, Private equity goes to the movies: 6 deals in 6 months. Michael Schoeck’s in-depth reporting on ongoing auctions for Rite Aid’s assets, Bankrupt Rite Aid’s Elixir business ripe for mid-market PE buyout, also proved popular with readers. Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more details on all the articles and to read the full stories. Looking ahead Moving on to a new story. This morning, we published my interview with EQT’s Alex Darden. The interview is part of PE Hub’s ongoing series of Q&As with private equity thought leaders. EQT launched its North American operations 15 years ago when the Stockholm-based private equity firm opened an office in White Plains, New York. Darden has been with the firm since then and helped open the office back in 2008. Darden serves as partner, head of EQT Infrastructure Advisory Team, Americas, and president of EQT Partners. Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to find out how EQT fared in infrastructure investing in 2023 and about his outlook for 2024. Kudos Before I sign off, I want to give a shoutout to Christopher Wood, managing editor, digital. Big thanks to Chris for all you do producing and optimizing our newsletters and websites at PE Hub and PE Hub Europe throughout the year! And thank you for combing the Internet to produce our Also of note section of the Wire. On a scheduling note, this is my last Wire of the year. Craig McGlashan will write to you tomorrow, Chris Witkowsky on Wednesday, Michael Schoeck on Thursday and Obey Martin Manayiti on Friday. PE Hub, PE Hub Europe and PEI Group are closed the last week of the year, so I’ll see you back here on Tuesday, January 2, 2024! As always, I’d love to hear from you. My email address is [email protected]. Happy Holidays, MK Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 