Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, is a candidate for a hostile takeover, according to a research note by Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. analyst Richard Bove, as reported by Bloomberg.
‘Management is unwilling to sell out at a deeply distressed value,’ Bove said in the note. ‘The stage is set for a hostile bid to take over the whole company.’
Reports previously circulated that Korea Development Bank and China's Citic Securities Inc. were interested in buying stakes in the company. However, The Financial Times reported that the buyers ultimately decided Lehman's asking price for a 50% stake was too high.
Lehman was the largest underwriter of mortgage bonds before the subprime mortgage market meltdown and has suffered severe losses in recent months.
Source: Bloomberg