DTZ and Deutsche RealCorp have set up a joint venture to advise companies in need of cash in difficult markets on how to release money from their property.

The joint venture – to be known as DTZ RealCorp – will also incorporate a fund for institutional investors, set up to take part in sale and leaseback transactions..

The company is owned 50:50 by the pair and will be managed by Matthias Gehrmann of DRC and Raffaele Lino of DTZ.

Gehrmann said: ‘Cooperation with DTZ increases the scope of the sale-and-lease-back model and gives business companies access to the capital markets.’

DTZ will structure the fund. Lino said: ‘In the new company we will assume responsibility for the entire transaction process, including bidding and due diligence procedures.’

The company said that there was huge potential for sale and lease back deals in Germany, where 70% of large German companies still own their real estate – twice the international average.

The current market conditions, where companies are struggling to raise capital on the stock exchange or from banks, also mean that more companies may look at sale and leasebacks.