General Electric’s sale of its appliances business to Chinese manufacturer Haier for $5.4bn in January last year marked another big pay day for the Wall Street banks. On this occasion it was Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch that won the advisory fees. But alongside the Wall Street powerhouses was a more surprising name, PwC, which was paid $7.5m for advising Haier.

PwC’s role highlights the investment the Big Four accounting firms have put into deal advice in recent years. The firms have hired dozens of M&A experts from banks to add to their existing strengths in due diligence, execution and tax services on deals.