BANK of China (BOC) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) are among suitors looking at a potential purchase of German transport finance lender DVB Bank, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The preliminary interest by two of China’s leading lenders follows a wider push by Chinese companies to scoop up assets in Europe, especially in Germany.

In December, sources said that German cooperative lender DZ Bank was moving ahead with plans to sell its subsidiary DVB, which finances ships, aircraft, offshore oil rigs and the rail industry. The sales process is in its early stages.

DZ Bank has had to make large provisions for bad loans in shipping, a sector which is slowly coming out of a near-decade long downturn.

The sources said both BOC and ICBC were working on pitches. One source said they were expected to present their initial proposals this month.

“There is interest from ICBC and BOC and this shows the Chinese are still looking for assets in Germany. It’s unclear if they will take it to the later stages, but they are looking at it,” the sources said.

The sources said a sale framework could take at least six months and the process was still at the initial stages.

The first source said the interest was for the entire bank, while the others said it was still unclear whether bidders would be able to hone in on specific assets.

DVB is unusual in banking because it straddles both aviation and shipping, and both lending and leasing — a combination rarely found in one package.

Some buyers may aim to team up and then separate aviation and shipping, an industry banker said separately.

The sources said Carlyle Group and Apollo Global Management were also interested in DVB.

Both ICBC and BOC were also among the early contenders to buy German state-run bank HSH Nordbank, but later dropped out. (SD-Agencies)