Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, led by Stephen Feinberg is now going full steam ahead with an initial public offering of its German retail property assets. It has tapped three major banks to manage the sale according to anonymous sources.

The firm owns property assets valied in the amount of Eur2 billion or US$2.6 billion that operate German department stores. It has engaged the services of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The source confirmed that the IPO can be done as early as the second half of 2013.

Cerberus has been an active player ion the German real estate market. Back in 2011, the private equity firm purchased 45 stores in Germany's biggest retailer, Metro AG. The sale included 42 separate Cash & Carry wholesale shopping buildings located in many large cities with 900,000 square meters of rentable floor space.

When sought for comment, the three banks identified for the sale declined to make any comment on the transaction.