Citing unofficial sources, the paper says that Hungarian bank group OTP and US billionaire Wilbur L. Ross were among the bidders. The third potential buyer is not known.

OTP offered EUR 300m for the bank, while WL Ross & Co fund is reportedly willing to pay EUR 200m. The figures are significantly below the EUR 870m the state injected to the bank in late 2013 and amount to only around a half of the bank's capital in March.

The paper says however that these are only provisional bids and can change during the sale, as the potential investors have not yet performed a due diligence.

However, media reports have suggested that OTP had carried out a due diligence at the Maribor-based bank last year.

The Hungarian biggest bank however refused to comment for the daily Delo on the report that it was bidding for NKBM just over a fortnight ago when the bid deadline expired.

The price of the NKBM will moreover depend on the decision of the Constitutional Court in a case brought by small shareholders following a bail-in imposed by the state.

In case the court rules in favour of the small shareholders, the bank's liability will increase by about EUR 90m.

Under any scenario from the Constitutional Court, the two potential buyers should however not have a problem with the financing of the acquisition.

OTP group total assets amount to EUR 33bn, while Ross is the 554th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, with EUR 2.6bn in private funds, while his fund manages USD$9bn, according to Marketwatch data.