Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Post were in advanced negotiations on Thursday over the bank's apparent plan to offer at least €2.5bn ($3.5bn) for the logistics group's minority stake in Postbank, Germany's largest retail bank.

With the outcome ex-pected on Friday, many observers cast Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank's chief executive, in the role of a coloniser hoisting a flag over an accessible piece of land to grab rights ahead of Banco Santander, its Spanish rival.