Two more contenders are set to join Texas Pacific, the US private equity group, and Christopher Flowers, the former banker, in the auction to take control of the majority state-owned Bankgesellschaft Berlin.

According to a source close to one of the bids, Thilo Sarrazin, the state of Berlin's finance minister, has added another two bids for the troubled bank, which was bailed out by the state at the end of last year. The closing date for bids passed earlier this week.