Barry Ritholtz, at The Big Picture, speculates that the Lehman bailout will be held this weekend, presumably on Sunday. 
Lehman Bailout This Weekend?
Excerpt: "Rumors circulating amongst several hedgies are that KKR and Blackstone are interesting in taking a bid at Lehman. Note that Blackstone is run by Peter Peterson and Steve Schwartzman, former Lehman Brothers guys.
The scuttlebutt is that the private equity boys are looking for a Fed backstop, and want a Bear Stearns-like deal, with Fed/Treasury taking on $20-40 billion dollars in risk. So goes the circulating rumors amongst the Long/Short crowd.
The WSJ [Lehman Races to Find a Buyer] noted:
Given the firm’s deep financial troubles, a deal of any sort is far from certain, according to people familiar with the situation. In addition, prospective buyers would likely want the U.S. government to help shield them from future losses from any such transaction, these people said, as happened in March, when Bear Stearns Cos. was forced into a deal to be acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. In that deal, the federal government agreed to absorb as much as $29 billion in potential losses."…
…Here’s a more neutered version of the story, via Washington Post:
The Federal Reserve and Treasury are actively helping Lehman Brothers put itself up for sale, and officials are hoping a deal will be in place this weekend before Asian markets open on Monday, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The government is looking for an agreement that would not involve public money. One scenario that is emerging includes multiple suitors acquiring different pieces of the venerable investment bank, which has suffered staggering losses from its business in real estate and mortgages.
The situation was still fluid tonight, and there was no guarantee what form an agreement would take, or even that it would be in place by Monday,…"
Sources: Lehman Races to Find a Buyer &
U.S. Government Helping to Arrange Sale of Lehman Brothers
More from Barry here.
