There may be turmoil across global credit markets, but John Studzinski is one banker who is not in panic mode. Blackstone’s global head of M&A advisory does not believe that the market has reached its top. In fact, he thinks there is still some way to go.

“Everybody’s quick to say this is a peak, but I don’t think this is a peak,” Mr Studzinski told The Times.

His comments came as it emerged that a string of deals, including the sale of Virgin Media and the merger of Saga and the AA, could be put on hold as investors remained nervous about high-risk buyouts.

Nevertheless, Mr Studzinski, 51, was upbeat. While he acknowledged that there could be a short-term slowdown in the level of private equity-led deals, he said corporates, awash with cash, were still going strong.

“The corporate credit market is very different so it’s very dangerous to generalise,” he said.

The former head of investment banking at HSBC, who quit last year to join Blackstone, has reasons to be cheerful. Fresh from advising Reuters, the news agency, on its £8.7 billion merger, the veteran American dealmaker also emerged as the sole adviser to China Development Bank on its acquisition of a stake worth up to €9.8 billion (£6.6 billion) in Barclays this week.

Mr Studzinski said that CDB’s investment was just the start of things to come. He spoke about several Blackstone mandates advising Chinese and Indian companies on their plans to buy European and American energy and infrastructure firms, but would not provide details.

“What you now have is the evolution of two big economies, India and China. They’re investing outside of their markets for the first time and that’s going to cause M&A activity to be more protracted,” he said. “So if private equity slows down because funding slows down you’ll still have plenty of strategic buyers.”

Mr Studzinski concedes that expanding Blackstone’s advisory business in Europe will be a challenge, but he is confident that he can do it.

“All business is a challenge but on the other hand I think it’s not that complicated. We just have to pick our spots well,” he said.

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax