Dubai’s largest banking group Emirates NBD is preparing to submit a bid for largest Russian lender Sberbank’s wholly owned Turkish unit Denizbank, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on February 19.

It could take several months before Sberbank decides whether or not to sell, sources also told the news service.

German Gref, CEO of Sberbank, said on February 15 that Sberbank has no timeframe to evaluate offers for Denizbank.

The Russian lender was said to be in talks with Emirates NBD over selling Denizbank, the Turkish lender it acquired in 2012 for $3.5bn. Sberbank has already received an offer for Denizbank, Gref told reporters on February 13.

Other Gulf-based lenders were also said to be involved in the talks but discussions were at an early stage and may not conclude in a deal. Buyers from China and Kazakhstan were also said to have expressed an interest in acquiring Denizbank.

Denizbank is Turkey’s ninth-largest lender. Denizbank has a $3.4bn book value as of the end of 2017. That compared with a book value 33% higher than the market value in 2012, according to Bloomberg data.

In 2015, Qatar National Bank (QNB) acquired National Bank of Greece’s (NBG) stakes in Turkish private lender Finansbank for €2.7bn 

Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) bought a 70.84% stake in Alternatifbank from Anadolu Endustri Holding in July 2013 and an additional 3.4% through a public tender offer in October 2013. It later acquired 1,000 additional shares increasing its stake in the Turkish lender to 74.25%. In July 2014, CBQ announced that it had applied to acquire the freely-floating 0.75% stake in Alternatifbank and delist the lender from the Istanbul stock exchange.

In July 2016, CBQ decided to buy the remaining 25% stake in Alternatifbank after Anadolu Endustri Holding said it would exercise its share sale option. CBQ announced on December 7 that Qatari regulatory authorities had given it approval to buy the stake.