Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm, is a candidate for a hostile takeover, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. analyst Richard Bove said. He raised his rating on the shares to ``buy.''

``Management is unwilling to sell out at a deeply distressed value,'' Bove wrote in a note to clients. ``The stage is set for a hostile bid to take over the whole company.''

The Financial Times reported today Lehman failed to sell a 50 percent stake to Korea Development Bank and China's Citic Securities Co. The buyers walked away after deciding Lehman demanded too high a price, the FT said, citing people familiar with the Asian lenders.

Lehman, the largest underwriter of mortgage bonds before the subprime market collapsed, slumped 77 percent over the past year as it struggled to pare its debt holdings. The bank has reported writedowns and credit losses of $8.2 billion in the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bove previously had a ``neutral'' rating on the shares.

Lehman dropped 2.9 percent to $13.33 at 1:31 p.m. in New York. The stock had earlier fallen as much as 8.7 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Allen Wan in New York at awan3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 21, 2008 13:33 EDT