Deutsche Bank, one of the biggest lenders to private equity before last summer's credit crisis, has accelerated the sale of its €36bn (£28.8bn) leveraged loan portfolio in the hope of taking advantage of a recent slight improvement in debt market conditions.

The German bank has been steadily selling some of its leveraged loans since August, said a person familiar with the talks. The sale process was accelerated last month as the price of many of the loans increased following the bail-out of Bear Stearns.