Lehman Brothers is advising Hagemeyer, the €1.6bn ($1.9bn) Dutch-listed distributor of goods ranging from fire extinguishers to first aid kits, on refinancing options that include disposal to a private equity firm.

A spokesman for Hagemeyer, which has a market capitalisation of €700m and €900m of debt outstanding, said: "We went into default four months ago and since then we have been talking to our lenders, a consortium of 24 banks led by ABN Amro."