Baker Tilly and Grant Thorton, both UK-headquartered accountancy and advisory firms, are to merge their Ukranian arms at the start of next year. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The merger is intended to to narrow the gap with the “Big Four” audit companies in Ukraine, the firm said in a statement. The firms also hope to make inroads into the transaction services market, helping Ukrainian companies wishing to tap into international markets for equity and debt funding.

The combined firm, which will operate as Baker Tilly Ukraine, has offices in Kiev, Donetsk and Odessa.