Rail operator Deutsche Bahn could become the latest German company to attract Middle East investors as part of its €5bn ($7.9bn) flotation despite increased tension between sovereign wealth funds and the German Government, which proposed tougher rules on foreign ownership this year.

Deutsche Bahn, which is planning to sell a 24.9% stake to investors in the fourth quarter of this year, has been meeting potential investors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that were "very interested" in investing in the company's partial privatisation, according to reports by German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.