Obey Martin Manayiti

'It's awfully hard for those small firms to compete and so they need to join large firms to survive," said Mercer vice-chairman David Barton.

'There is significant opportunity for Axcel businesses to grow independently as well as the opportunity to build a family of businesses that are stronger together than they are apart,' Jonathan Zeidan told PE Hub.

In September, Bernhard portfolio company United Utility Services agreed to acquire BHI Power Delivery.

'We feel like the space is large enough to create multiple winners,' he said.

'We are in a moment when the adoption of electric vehicles is accelerating, and manufacturers are coming up with better models,' Munger said.

'The North American refrigeration sector, particularly in commercial coolers, saw little consolidation until recently due to limited capital,' said Ronin's David Feierstein.

LLR principal Jesse Gray gave PE Hub an exclusive interview on the deal.

There is 'a reluctance of buyers to devote a lot of resources towards looking at companies or participating in auctions that they ultimately don't think that they may win or be competitive in.'

With an expected wide scale adoption of electric vehicles supported by federal and state funding as, appetite is growing among PE firms to invest in this space.

Selling may be the right move for private equity, as Thoma Bravo's sale of Frontline to Roper suggests.