Nomura buys Lehman's Asian unit

Lehman's administrators are keen to find buyers for the firm's assets

Japanese investment bank Nomura has confirmed that it will buy the Asia-Pacific business of Lehman Brothers for an undisclosed sum.

The lucrative Asian assets of the failed US bank include equity trading and investment banking operations.

The acquisition would allow Nomura, which has Japan's top mergers and acquisitions advisory service, to expand quickly outside the country.

It is also thought that Nomura wants to buy parts of Lehman's European assets.

Reports that a deal had been agreed sent Nomura shares up 9.6% in Tokyo to 1,430 yen earlier.

'Transformational' deal

In a statement, Nomura said all 3,000 employees of the business throughout the Asia-Pacific region will be kept on.

Kenichi Watanabe, Nomura's president and chief executive called the deal "transformational" and a "once in a generation opportunity".

"Our ability to capitalise on this opportunity in spite of such volatile markets reflects our financial strength and demonstrates how well we have managed the credit crisis," he added.

Once Wall Street's fourth largest investment bank, Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection last week after it was brought to its knees by its huge exposure to risky residential and commercial loans, which have tumbled in value amid the credit crisis.

Its administrators are keen to move swiftly to find buyers for parts of its business which are still trading before the firm starts to lose staff and customers.

Lehman's investment banking operation ranks ninth in Asia and accounted for about a fifth of its overall revenue in the first six months of 2008.

Keen to snap it up at a knock-down price, Nomura had reportedly battled against rivals Barclays and Standard Chartered for the business.

Meanwhile, Nomura is also reportedly interested in parts of Lehman's European business, which is headquartered in London.

Barclays has also been named as a contender after the UK bank agreed to pay $1.75bn for Lehman's North American investment banking and trading unit last week.