Deal making is as much about the deals that don’t get done as those that do – and this year has shown that in spades.

After a tepid start, as buy and sell sides dithered over whether to pull the trigger, a dreamy European summer put a spring in deal makers’ steps. Then, the big one. AirTrunk, done, and for a huge number. And like dominoes, they fell. A frenzy kicked off in tech and infrastructure – Global Switch Australia, TPG Telecom, Queensland Airports, Waste Services Group, Singapore Post all inked deals – evoking the heady days of the COVID-19 pandemic deal-making period.