Bid battle looms for German banks

Postbank is Germany's largest retail bank

A takeover battle in the German banking sector could be looming after another lender indicated an interest in buying Deutsche Postbank.

Deutsche Bank is the latest to join the fray, after Commerzbank said earlier this year it would be interested in buying Germany's largest retail lender.

Although Deutsche Postbank is currently not for sale, its parent Deutsche Post is expected to sell it next year.

Deutsche Postbank is worth about 9bn euros ($13.3bn; £6.5bn).

With almost 15 million customers, Deutsche Post is expected to put it up for sale once the country's domestic postal market is deregulated next year.

"I will rule out absolutely nothing," Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann told reporters, when asked if he might be interested in buying Postbank.

Deutsche Postbank's shares were up 2% in Wednesday trading.