Bankers in India had their greatest quarter ever for mergers and acquisitions, while dealmaking elsewhere has slowed to a halt. According to Bloomberg data, India saw $82.3 billion in pending and completed M&A deals in the second quarter, the largest amount on record. This is more than double the previous high of $38.1 billion set in the third quarter of 2019. Global M&A volume in the third quarter was $827.6 billion, an 8.7 percent decrease from the same time in 2021.

In India, the spike was dominated by HDFC Bank Ltd NSE -0.76 percent$60 .’s billion all-stock acquisition of Housing Development Finance Corp. in April, which combined India’s most valuable bank and largest mortgage lender in the country’s largest ever M&A transaction. The move demonstrated how, in the face of disruptive factors such as the rise of fintech and climate change, India’s flagship corporations are turning to dealmaking as a strategy to fundamentally transform themselves.