Lehman Brothers nearly struck a deal with a group of Korean financial institutions as part of its latest $6bn capital raising and may still reach such a strategic arrangement by the end of the year, people close to the matter said.

Lehman, which has been looking at potential strategic partnerships outside the US for several years, had advanced discussions with the Korean institutions in the days leading up to Monday’s announcement that the bank would raise $6bn, mainly from big US investors, to bolsters its financial position following an embarrassing $2.8bn second-quarter loss.