Greenhill has been working as sole financial adviser to KarstadtQuelle, the German retail group, on its financial services joint venture with German insurance group Munich Re.

KarstadtQuelle runs various operations, including department stores and a mail order business, and it also owns travel company Thomas Cook. The company said it was keen to do a deal with a financial services company because it felt its large customer base of 19 million regular customers would also want financial services products.