Disruptive technology has given rise to a blockbuster era in deal-making, according to EY’s Global technology M&A: 4Q15 and year in review. Throughout 2015, disruptive technologies and their effects drove all types of technology and techenabled companies to embrace mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a key element of their growth strategies.

This is likely to continue in 2016. “Technology and non-tech companies alike are turning to tech mergers and acquisitions to keep up with the accelerating pace of change,” said Ronald Attard, Country Managing Partner and Transactions Leader at EY Malta.

“They reach out to us for advice as they contemplate M&A, joint ventures, financings and other transactions because we can support them throughout the deal life cycle — transaction (buy-side and sell-side) strategy analysis, opportunity assessment, transaction development, structure, negotiation, due diligence, execution, post-transaction integration and monitoring, whether in Malta or overseas.”

Technology innovation continues to push boundaries that have traditionally shaped businesses, industries and world markets. In today’s global digital economy, the boundaries between the technology industry and other industries are blurring rapidly – perhaps even disappearing.

This era of continuous innovation is triggering unrelenting waves of change, first producing such disruptive digital technologies as smart mobility and cloud computing and now accelerating their evolution, driving convergence and amplifying the potential for even more profound impact on the way business is done and money is made worldwide. Megadeals — deals above $10 billion — were the big story of 2015.

There were eight for the year, including three in 4Q15, compared with one in 2014 and only six in the previous 10 years. Aggregate and average deal values soared, helping drive 2015’s multiple dealmaking records past 2000 to set a new alltime high for annual tech M&A aggregate value. The pace of global technology mergers and acquisitions stayed strong in January 2016, undeterred by the equity market volatility that opened the year.

The number of deals rose slightly, and all the major trends that drove 2015 to multiple volume and value records continued to make their presence felt. Non-tech buyers continued increasing cross-industry blur between technology and other industries.