Nomura to acquire Asian operations of Lehman Brothers

Japan’s largest brokerage house, Nomura Holdings, is to buy the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers.

Standard Chartered and Barclays had also been interested in Lehman’s Asian assets, according to sources close to the matter.

Banking giant Lehman Brothers went bankrupt last week and British bank Barclays has already acquired its US investment banking and capital markets businesses.

Nomura is to pay around $230 million (£125 million) to acquire the Asian business of Lehman Brothers in a deal described by company insiders as a bargain.

It is believed that a considerable amount of the 3,000 staff in Lehman’s Asia businesses will be retained following the deal.

There is also speculation that Nomura is in talks to buy Lehman’s business in Europe. PricewaterhouseCoopers, who have been appointed as administrators in Europe, said they were in talks with one party regarding the investment banking and equities business, Nomura is believed to be the bidder.

The Asian operations of Lehman Brothers extend from Australia to mainland China, and include Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.

The company’s South Korean business has not yet been acquired by Nomura for regulatory reasons that appear likely to be determined within the next few weeks.

Nomura’s President and CEO, Kenichi Watanabe, described the acquisition as a transformational deal which would strengthen Lehman’s position in areas such as M&A advisory.

Nomura was the first Japanese securities company to open an overseas office 81 years ago. It has 18,000 staff in 30 countries.

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