Q3 2024 marked an exciting time in the M&A market: there was a significant amount of election uncertainty, the first fed funds interest rate decrease was affected in mid-September, and the geopolitical backdrop continued to be unstable at best, with major conflicts continuing in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Despite all that, we would wager that the biggest factor in understanding this last quarter is understanding what's going on with private equity firms, which are the predominant drivers of all industrial services M&A activity. The fact that rate cuts in Q3/Q4 have been so telegraphed by the fed has led to private equity firms slowing down add-on activity and instead focusing on integration of existing add-ons to get ready to go to market in late 2024 or early 2025 alongside lower rates.