The five banks working on Dow Chemical’s $15bn (€11.8bn) acquisition of US rival Rohm & Haas are among the biggest beneficiaries of Dow’s last-minute decision to follow through on the deal, pocketing over $100m in success fees at a time when revenues from mergers and acquisition advice are severely depressed.

Dow Chemical yesterday gave up on efforts to pull out of the bid days before the case was due to go to trial, agreeing to pay Rohm & Haas's shareholders the original $78 per share plus penalties.