By Marynia Kruk and Marcin Sobczyk

WARSAW--PKO Bank Polski SA (PKO.WA), Poland's largest bank by assets, is interested in buying the Polish unit of Nordea Bank AB (NDA.SK), two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The state-controlled PKO likes Nordea's prime locations in big cities, one of the people said. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has the mandate from Nordea to sell the Polish unit, Nordea Bank Polska SA, the people said.

PKO declined to comment on whether it is interested in Nordea's Polish unit, but said generally on acquisitions that it's a duty of its management board to "to use the opportunities that arise to speed up growth." Nordea wasn't immediately available to comment.

PKO's Chief Executive Zbigniew Jagiello said earlier in March the bank was looking to buy local rivals and will put greater emphasis on growth through acquisitions in its new strategy. Mr. Jagiello said at the time, four international banks with units in Poland were considering leaving the country.

In 2011, PKO lost the bid to buy smaller rival Bank Zachodni WBK SA from Allied Irish Banks PLC (AIB), which chose Spain's Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) as the buyer.

-Gustav Sandstrom in Stockholm contributed to this article.

Write to Marynia Kruk at marynia.kruk@wsj.com and Marcin Sobczyk at marcin.sobczyk@wsj.com

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