The controlling shareholder of Israel's largest bank, Hapoalim, is considering selling a stake to a foreign investor to advance the company's international business, the Globes financial daily reported citing unnamed sources.

Hapoalim, which has a market value of 28 billion shekels ($7.3 billion), is 20.2 percent owned by Shari Arison through her investment company Arison Holdings.

Globes said there had been no firm contact with any specific investor but that Arison had decided to "seriously consider offers in the matter." It cited a source as saying that if a suitable offer was received, Arison would not rule out the sale of the entire stake.

A spokeswoman for Arison told Reuters the firm "receives, initiates and studies from time to time proposals regarding bringing in new investors to Bank Hapoalim...to further develop and expand the bank's activities, with a special emphasis on international operations."

Hapoalim has sought to expand further overseas because growth in Israel is limited. The bank already has branches in New York, Miami, London, Paris and Zurich and has representative offices in Canada, Russia, Latin America, Europe and Asia. New Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is also keen to boost banking sector competition.

Some 74 percent of Hapoalim's shares are floated. Most shares are held by Israeli institutions but foreign demand has been growing.

With a 1.2 percent stake, the U.S.'s Newton Investment Management is Hapoalim's fifth-largest shareholder, according to Reuters data, followed by Norges Bank Investment Management, Vanguard and BlackRock Institutional Trust Co.