Announcing the winners of Mergers & Acquisitions' 8th Annual M&A Mid-Market Awards:

Deal of the Year: Thoma Bravo, for buying TravelClick, encapsulating two important developments fueling middle-market M&A: cloud computing and travel services.

Dealmaker of the Year: Gretchen Perkins, for originating the majority of transactions completed by Huron Capital Partners, and for embodying the rising importance of deal sourcing in today's highly competitive PE marketplace.

Private Equity Firm of the Year: HGGC, for proving its vitality after changing its leadership team and name by raising a successful new fund, delivering stellar returns and completing 10 transactions.

Seller of the Year: The Riverside Co., for completing an impressive 19 portfolio-company sales, and delivering the largest return on a deal since the firm's founding in 1988.

Strategic Buyer of the Year: PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG), for a buying spree that included spending $2.3 billion to acquire Consorcio Comex SA and another $1 billion to snatch up four middle-market targets, as the paints and coating business consolidates.

Investment Bank of the Year: Piper Jaffray & Co. (NYSE: PJC), for more than doubling its deal volume and value, thanks, in part, to two acquisitions the bank made the previous year.

Lender of the Year: GE Capital, the lending unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), for closing 248 private equity-backed loans worth $30 billion, increasing loans made for PE platform acquisitions by 55 percent and for launching a new unit focused on the middle market.

Law Firm of the Year: Jones Day, for deepening its bench of M&A partners in high-growth areas, including Europe, Latin America and the energy sector, and for continuing to serve as one of the most active advisers in the middle market.

Kudos to all!