Terra Firma, the specialist private equity firm spun off from Nomura by Guy Hands last year, is doubling its German team despite seeing its first deal - the $2bn (€1.9bn) acquisition of Cologne's housing portfolio - scuppered by political shenanigans.

The City of Cologne parliament was widely expected to ratify the deal its representatives had finished negotiating with Terra Firma in December, particularly since it would have given the city government €420m it desperately needed to help fill its budget deficit.