Troubled German mortgage bank Allgemein Hypothekenbank Rheinboden could be acquired before the end of the year by a private equity bidder following a €2.5bn ($2.9bn) capital injection by five leading banks and the country's deposit guarantee fund.

Handelsblatt reports that US private equity investors Lone Star, Texas Pacific Group, JC Flowers, Cerberus and George Soros have all been linked with AHBR. Their interest comes after the mortgage bank was plunged into losses by bad debts and unsuccessful interest rate speculation.