Sal.Oppenheim eyes Macquarie bid-report

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Private bank Sal. Oppenheim is in exclusive talks to sell its investment banking arm to Macquarie , German daily Financial Times Deutschland reported on Monday, without citing sources.

The Australian lender is the only remaining bidder after Italy's Mediobanca withdrew from the bidding last week, the newspaper said.

Handelsblatt newspaper said that Barclays PLC , which had been believed to be eying the investment bank as well, was no longer interested.

Sal. Oppenheim's family owners are selling parts of the business after the bank posted its first post-war loss last year, hurt by the financial crisis and a hit from its stake in insolvent German retailer Arcandor .

Deutsche Bank has been negotiating the purchase of Sal. Oppenheim's wealth management business.

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Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Deutsche Bank was considering buying up to 75 percent of the business in a first step.

"A takeover in small steps is no longer on the agenda," one of the sources said at the weekend.

An agreement was due by the end of October.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Philipp Halstrick; Editing by Michael Shields)

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