MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's state-rescued lender Bankia (>> Bankia SA) has appointed Credit Suisse (>> Credit Suisse Group AG) and KPMG [KPMG.UL] to find institutional investors interested in its 4.8 billion euro (4 billion pound) real estate portfolio, a spokesman for the bank said on Wednesday.

Talks are at a preliminary stage and a sale depends on market conditions and demand, the spokesman said, confirming a report in newspaper Expansion. He added that Bankia is prepared to sell the portfolio in parts or as a whole.

The Spanish real estate sector is showing signs of a slow return to growth after a property bubble burst in 2008, putting millions out of a work and forcing the government into a multibillion-euro bailout for its battered banks.

The Bankia portfolio, offered to about 50 investors, consists mostly of housing in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia but also includes offices and commercial real estate across the country.

(Reporting by Carlos Ruano; Writing by Paul Day; Editing by David Goodman)

Stocks treated in this article : Credit Suisse Group AG, Bankia SA