The latest announcement of the potential sale is said to have triggered protests among the bank’s workers who voted to strike demanding protection of their jobs.
Members of the German trade union Verdi are said to have voted 94.8% in favour of the measure.
Deutsche Bank, which is suffering various regulatory fines, plans to refocus its other own-brand retail operations.
Bloomberg cited a person with knowledge of the matter as saying that the company is also considering a third option of minimising the operations of its investment and consumer banking.
Deutsche Bank, which denied the announcement with regard to the sale, said that the strategy review process is currently underway and various options are still being considered.
Following the sale of Postbank, the bank is expected to raise capital and take the company partially out of the competitive retail bank sector in Germany.
In 1999, Postbank became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post after the demerger of the postal savings division of Deutsche Bundespost in 1990.
Until September 2008, Deutsche Post retained a controlling stake of 50% plus one share when 30% of this was disposed off to Deutsche Bank in a transaction worth €2.8bn..
Through a tender offer that was completed in December 2010, Deutsche Bank secured a majority stake in the company and exercised its option to acquire the remaining stake of Deutsche Post’s holding in the year 2012.
Image: Deutsche Postbank headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Photo: courtesy of Eckhard Henkel
