Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Banco Santander SA, Spain's biggest bank, revived talks aimed at an acquisition of Deutsche Postbank AG after the lender's market value fell, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Santander is vying with Deutsche Bank AG for Bonn-based Postbank, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The Santander, Spain-based bank wouldn't bid more than 50 euros a share, which would value Postbank at about 8.2 billion euros ($11.6 billion), one of the people said.

Deutsche Post AG, Europe's biggest mail carrier, may decide to continue with talks or call off a sale of its controlling stake in Postbank at a supervisory board meeting Sept. 12, the people said. Commerzbank AG agreed to buy Allianz SE's Dresdner Bank for 9.8 billion euros on Aug. 31, the third German banking takeover this year.

``There are not that many targets anymore to get a foothold in the German market,'' said Andreas Weese, an analyst at UniCredit SpA in Munich who recommends buying Postbank shares. A buyer could claim a ``significant share of the fragmented German banking market and a large number of customers.''

Postbank declined about 28 percent in Frankfurt trading since the beginning of June, cutting its market value to 7.3 billion euros, on speculation bidders wouldn't match the price Deutsche Post was seeking. The stock rose as much as 3.1 percent today and closed up 2.1 percent at 44.70 euros.

Biggest by Customers

Deutsche Post spokeswoman Nicole Mommsen said the company is still examining several options for the future of Postbank. Deutsche Bank spokesman Michael Lermer reiterated that the company would consider acquisitions if they make strategic sense and bolster shareholder value. A spokesman at Santander declined to comment.

Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank may buy less than 30 percent of Postbank to thwart rival bidders, and possibly make a full acquisition in the future, one person with knowledge of the matter said. Such a step would allow Deutsche Bank to avoid making a mandatory takeover and carrying out a capital increase, the person said.

Deutsche Post, based in Bonn, is seeking to sell Postbank to focus on mail, express deliveries and logistics. The bank offers potential buyers an opportunity to add more than 14 million customers and 850 branches and gain a bigger slice of Germany's retail market, which is still dominated by state-owned lenders.

German labor union Ver.di called on Deutsche Post to decide against a sale of Postbank to avoid job cuts. ``A sale to Deutsche Bank, for example, would threaten thousands of jobs,'' Ver.di spokesman Uwe Foullong said in an e-mailed statement today. Commerzbank plans to eliminate about 9,000 jobs after the takeover of Dresdner.

Postbank and Ver.di agreed to raise wages for about 5,000 employees by 4 percent starting Dec. 1 and by a further 3 percent in December 2009, the union said today. As part of the agreement, the company won't conduct forced layoffs until June 2011, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in Frankfurt at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net. Jann Bettinga in Frankfurt at jbettinga@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 9, 2008 12:36 EDT