Top Japanese brokerage group Nomura Holdings has won a deal to buy the entire Asian operations of failed US investment firm for $225 million, reports The Wall Street Journal. Nomura Holdings Inc. is paying $225 million including $50 million in goodwill adds the report. It is believed that Standard Chartered PLC and Barclays PLC also placed bids for the assets, but Nomura offered the highest price.
The daily further adds that Nomura, which won the auction for Lehman's Asian business , will be acquiring the equities and investment banking operations of Lehman across Asia, including in Japan and Australia, but will not be taking on any of Lehman's balance sheet. Also Lehman's BPO is likely to go to be taken over by Barclays since it mainly looked after the work there.
This is an attempt by cash-rich Japanese firms taking advantage of the financial crisis in the U.S. to expand their businesses. Nomura isn't as leveraged as U.S. or European investment banks and has raised 600 billion yen since April partly for acquisitions.
Lehman employs about 2,940 people in the Asia Pacific region across 10 offices. The firm reported net revenues of $1.4 billion for the first six months of fiscal 2008 in the region, according to its Web site.
Lehman Brothers reportedly has 2,200 to 2,500 employees in India, including those in the BPO unit. While Lehman Brothers has about 200 employees in investment banking, it has no retail business in India. Earlier this year, the firm had shutdown its mortgage capital division employing around 150.
