Potential investors have been circling ING Reim, the world's largest real estate investment fund manager by assets, ever since ING Group chief executive Jan Hommen said earlier this month that the Dutch financial group was "conducting an evaluation of the position of Reim within the banking business."

Morgan Stanley has been appointed to evaluate ING Reim and could advise the bank on a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. Independent analysts believe ING could fetch between €800m ($985m) and €1bn through a direct sale of Reim, which has €66.4bn in property assets under management.