Mergers of public sector banks: Best partner selection using a data-driven approach

This study investigates the selection of the best partners while merging the public sector banks in India. It is set in the context of the announcement of the mega-merger of multiple Indian public sector banks on 30th August 2019. Using the clustering technique (a machine learning approach) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we identify ideal merger combinations with better efficiency. The findings highlight the possibility of identifying ideal merger combinations using objective techniques.