Lehman Brothers Sale Seems Unlikely

Updated from 3:12 p.m. EDT

While the rapid deterioration at Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote), evidenced Thursday with the ouster of two top executives, has reminded many of Bear Stearns' downfall, few expect the firm to meet the same fate.

Many investors fear that Lehman, which on Thursday ousted CFO Erin Callan and COO Joseph Gregory three days after it warned of massive loss for the second quarter, has some speculators floating names of potential buyers. Bear, on the verge of bankruptcy, in March agreed to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase(JPM Quote) after the firm's stock was relentlessly hammered by rumors about its liquidity position. Bear shareholders approved the deal last month.

But several industry observers say Lehman can survive, because the firm's situation is different in a lot of ways to the one Bear faced.

"Right now the information ...is quite opaque," says Cubillas Ding, a senior analyst in London at Celent. "It's a case of when people are unsure of they assume the worst."

Lehman's in for a World of Hurt

Even if there was a sale, "many of the U.S. players [that could conceivably buy Lehman] are in the same boat. They're working through their own crunch situation," Ding says. "It's not clear whether anyone else can be in a position to do a takeover."

Names of potential buyers do not include a perfect fit. JPMorgan just digested Bear. European bank Barclays (BCS Quote), would have a lot of overlap in bond trading.

RealMoney.com contributor Doug Kass on Thursday speculated private equity firms Blackstone Group(BX Quote) or J.C. Flowers could take a minority stake in Lehman. Other sources told TheStreet.com private equity investor Citadel or money manager BlackRock (BLK Quote) also could be in the mix.