"When Covid-19 hit, everything stopped,” says Jeri Harman, the founder of Avante Capital Partners, in the October cover story of Mergers & Acquisitions, written by contributing editor Danielle Fugazy. “We were looking internally to understand where our portfolio was and figure out how we could help existing portfolio companies. That lasted until May. Now we are busy again. It’s not like last year, but there is good deal flow.” Ted Koenig, CEO of Monroe Capital, agrees. “There is plenty of capital on the sidelines, and it’s really the private credit asset managers who are driving this market and financing the acquisitions. If there is a certainty of cash flow for a business and the deal can be underwritten based on projected cash flow, it will get done.” “Every day that goes by, the market seems to be normalizing,” says Kent Brown, a managing director and head of Capstone Headwaters’ debt advisory group. “It has not recovered for sure, but the trends are going in the right direction. We don’t think the market will get back to where it was in January anytime soon, but the tone feels better, and deals are getting done.” To find out what we can expect in the months to come, we turned to Churchill Asset Management’s Randy Schwimmer, the founder and publisher of The Lead Left, for a contributed article on predictions for 2021. “Transaction efficiency is key to getting deals done,” he says. “How much easier will 2021 due diligence be compared to hurdles now? Future travel and meeting logistics depend on the virus’ course. Conflicting state quarantines present real challenges. When vaccines are readily available, personal meetings may take back Zoom share. Expect processes to improve – better than this year, but not 2019.” And for a look at which election issues private equity professionals are focused on, I interviewed Pam Hendrickson, COO of the Riverside Co., who serves on the board of the American Investment Council. Hendrickson urges: “We must remain engaged before, during, and after election day.” To access the full issue of the October magazine, download the Digital Edition. For the full versions of these stories, click on these links: