Erste Bank, the Austrian banking group, has appointed a consortium of banks to lead a €2.4bn ($2.8bn) rights issue due in the first three months of next year. The banks involved have yet to be named, but the line-up is likely to include Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch.

A source close to Erste Bank said the mandates were likely to go to banks which had a previous relationship with the Austrian group.