Struggling European banks are presenting a rich opportunity for their U.S. counterparts.

On Monday, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) became the latest bank to announce an acquisition of U.S. assets from a European bank, buying German bank WestLB's $6 billion portfolio of loans and funding commitments to primarily U.S.-based private equity and real estate investment funds.

The deal came on the heels of two similar moves last week: Citigroup Inc.'s (C) purchase of a chunk of Societe Generale SA's (SCGLY, GLE.FR) shipping loan portfolio, and Eurohypo AG's sale of $760 million in U.S. commercial real estate loans to U.S. Bancorp (USB), Wells Fargo and Blackstone Group LP (BX). The real estate loans were purchased for 95 cents on the dollar.

Wells Fargo, in particular, has been looking to Europe to find bargains on U.S. assets that banks there look to divest as they raise capital and repair balance sheets amid the grinding euro-zone economic crisis.