Bouwfonds Asset Management, a subsidiary of ABN Amro, has teamed up with PGGM, Europe's second-largest pension fund, to buy a portfolio of 70 Dutch department stores in a deal worth an estimated €1.4bn ($1.6bn).

A source close to the deal said Bouwfonds and PGGM dispensed with investment banking advisers, deciding to rely instead on legal and accountancy advice, since they did not believe an investment bank would bring "real value" to the deal.