Nomura acquires Lehman Brothers’ Asian business

by Gill Montia

Story link: Nomura acquires Lehman Brothers’ Asian business

Nomura Holdings has acquired the Asian business of collapsed investment bank, Lehman Brothers, for around $230 million (£125 million).

The price is regarded as a steal for the Japanese bank, which will become the new owners of Lehman Brother’s investment banking operations in Australia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.

Barclays, which last week acquired Lehman Brothers’ US investment banking business and its Wall Street headquarters, is reported to have been in the bidding as is emerging markets bank, Standard Chartered.

Nomura is known to be keen to expand its investment banking business globally and according to Reuters, net revenue from Lehman’s Asia-Pacific business stood at $1.4 billion in the six months to the end of June, representing around 20% of group revenues.

The move could also save jobs in Tokyo where Lehman Brothers employs around 1,300 staff.

Meanwhile, PricewaterhouseCoopers is acting as administrator for Lehman’s European businesses and questions have been raised as to why the bank’s London-based coffers were empty when the group filed for bankruptcy.

Administrators have already warned UK employees of the failed bank that they may not receive their final pay, due this week.