A large part of Arcandor’s 53 per cent stake in Thomas Cook, the UK travel group, could be sold to institutional investors as early as next month as creditor banks of the insolvent German retailer try to claw back their loans.

Two people close to the banking consortium said a share placing “theoretically still in September” was the more likely of options being considered by the group, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, Commerzbank and Bayern LB.