Baltimore Technologies, the floundering Irish software company, has hired JP Morgan to help it find a buyer for a large part of its internet security business, leaving its traditional adviser Lehman Brothers on the sidelines.

After several months of repeated profit warnings and a cash-burn rate that fueled fears it might never break even, the market saw a sale of part or all of Baltimore's business as inevitable. However, the company's choice of JP Morgan instead of Lehman for the sale of its Content Technologies division came as a surprise to Lehman bankers, according to sources close to the investment bank.