Mezzanine activity for the LTM period ending December 31st increased approximately 58% YoY from 244 deals to 385 deals. Compared to the previous quarter (Q3 2021), deals including mezzanine debt increased from 87 to 128 in Q4 2021. The increase in mezzanine deal activity correlates with the increase of private equity sponsored deal volume, which increased nearly 19% from 1,500 deals in Q3 2021 to 1,781 deals in Q4 2021. Out of the 128 mezzanine deals that closed in Q4 2021, 73 deals were sponsored buyouts, 22 were minority financings, 26 were sponsor-backed add-ons, and 7 were recapitalizations. The most common industries in total M&A activity for the quarter were IT, Services, Healthcare, and Financial, respectively.