A sale of Lehman Brothers’ European equity trading and corporate finance units was inching closer on Sunday, although prospects for a deal to save the bank’s fixed-income business in the region were looking poor.

PwC, the administrator to Lehman in Europe, had been locked in talks over the weekend with Barclays, the UK lender, and Nomura, the Japanese bank, according to people familiar with the discussions. Barclays was primarily interested in the equities arm, while Nomura was focused on the advisory franchise. PwC was seeking a single deal covering both assets.