Nomura wins auction for Lehman's Asian Ops...
One of the historical event of my firm.
TOKYO/HONG KONG - JAPAN'S Nomura Holdings is to buy the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Monday, outbidding other banks seeking to scoop up the bankrupt US bank's Asian assets.
The source did not say how much the deal was worth, nor did he say if certain Lehman units were excluded from the agreement.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal is worth US$225 million (S$319 million).
Nomura and Britain's Barclays have also bid for parts of Lehman's business in Europe, as administrators seek to save as many jobs and salvage as much business as possible from the wreckage of what was Wall Street's fourth biggest investment bank.
Barclays is interested in Lehman's European equities businesses, a person familiar with the matter said. That could include 1,000-1,500 bankers and support staff, mostly in London, out of Lehman's European workforce of 6,000.
Nomura has also bid for the European operations, two sources said.
Lehman last week filed for bankruptcy protection after collapsing from its exposure to risky subprime mortgage securities. Barclays struck a US$1.75 billion (S$999 billion) deal to rescue its core US investment banking business, and signalled it might do the same for other units.
Nomura was the first Japanese securities company to establish an overseas office 81 years ago. It has 18,000 staff in 30 countries and its Asia deal and interest in Europe would meet its aim to expand its investment banking business globally.
'Nomura's global hub for this business is London, rather than New York, so bidding for Lehman's European operation makes sense,' said Mr Wataru Kasatani, senior financial analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management. 'Lehman's Asia operation will also add value to what Nomura has been doing in Asia.'
Nomura is Japan's top underwriter for stock offerings and also tops the M&A advisory table. But it ranks outside the top 20 in both Asia and European M&A advisory work, while Lehman ranks ninth in Asia and seventh in Europe.
Asian assets
Standard Chartered and Barclays had also been interested in Lehman's Asian assets, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Samsung Securities officials also looked at the Asian operations, a source close to the matter said separately.
Lehman's net revenue from Asia-Pacific in January-June was US$1.4 billion, nearly matching the whole of 2006 and accounting for roughly 20 per cent of the bank's overall revenues.
Nomura executives visited Hong Kong over the weekend to propose buying Lehman's flagship stockbroking and investment banking divisions in Asia, according to the sources.
Lehman has around 3,000 employees in Asia in 10 offices, with roughly 1,300 in Tokyo and 800 in Hong Kong.
The Tokyo office has a large fixed income group, while Hong Kong mainly houses M&A, equity capital and debt capital bankers.
In Singapore, Lehman employs 250, mostly focused on commodities and trading.
Lehman ranks second behind JPMorgan in year-to-date M&A rankings in Asia except Japan, with 15 deals worth a total US$32 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares in Nomura, regarded as a domestic powerhouse, rose 8 per cent in Tokyo on Monday.
Investment bank Rothschild advised on the sale of the Asian operations, a person with direct knowledge of the process said.
KPMG was also involved in the talks after being appointed as provisional liquidator to Lehman's Hong Kong operations.
On Sunday, more than 100 angry Hong Kong investors, many of them elderly retirees, marched on government offices, calling for action after losing money on structured products linked to Lehman. They accused the government and local banks of failing to warn them of the risks involved.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is acting as administrator for Lehman's European business, and is expected to move quickly as delays would cause Lehman to lose customers and staff.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday he was pushing the United States to help get US$8 billion from Lehman to its staff in Britain.
Administrators winding up Lehman's European business have questioned why that amount was transferred to New York just before the bank collapsed. -- REUTERS, AP
One of the historical event of my firm.
TOKYO/HONG KONG - JAPAN'S Nomura Holdings is to buy the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Monday, outbidding other banks seeking to scoop up the bankrupt US bank's Asian assets.
The source did not say how much the deal was worth, nor did he say if certain Lehman units were excluded from the agreement.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal is worth US$225 million (S$319 million).
Nomura and Britain's Barclays have also bid for parts of Lehman's business in Europe, as administrators seek to save as many jobs and salvage as much business as possible from the wreckage of what was Wall Street's fourth biggest investment bank.
Barclays is interested in Lehman's European equities businesses, a person familiar with the matter said. That could include 1,000-1,500 bankers and support staff, mostly in London, out of Lehman's European workforce of 6,000.
Nomura has also bid for the European operations, two sources said.
Lehman last week filed for bankruptcy protection after collapsing from its exposure to risky subprime mortgage securities. Barclays struck a US$1.75 billion (S$999 billion) deal to rescue its core US investment banking business, and signalled it might do the same for other units.
Nomura was the first Japanese securities company to establish an overseas office 81 years ago. It has 18,000 staff in 30 countries and its Asia deal and interest in Europe would meet its aim to expand its investment banking business globally.
'Nomura's global hub for this business is London, rather than New York, so bidding for Lehman's European operation makes sense,' said Mr Wataru Kasatani, senior financial analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management. 'Lehman's Asia operation will also add value to what Nomura has been doing in Asia.'
Nomura is Japan's top underwriter for stock offerings and also tops the M&A advisory table. But it ranks outside the top 20 in both Asia and European M&A advisory work, while Lehman ranks ninth in Asia and seventh in Europe.
Asian assets
Standard Chartered and Barclays had also been interested in Lehman's Asian assets, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Samsung Securities officials also looked at the Asian operations, a source close to the matter said separately.
Lehman's net revenue from Asia-Pacific in January-June was US$1.4 billion, nearly matching the whole of 2006 and accounting for roughly 20 per cent of the bank's overall revenues.
Nomura executives visited Hong Kong over the weekend to propose buying Lehman's flagship stockbroking and investment banking divisions in Asia, according to the sources.
Lehman has around 3,000 employees in Asia in 10 offices, with roughly 1,300 in Tokyo and 800 in Hong Kong.
The Tokyo office has a large fixed income group, while Hong Kong mainly houses M&A, equity capital and debt capital bankers.
In Singapore, Lehman employs 250, mostly focused on commodities and trading.
Lehman ranks second behind JPMorgan in year-to-date M&A rankings in Asia except Japan, with 15 deals worth a total US$32 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares in Nomura, regarded as a domestic powerhouse, rose 8 per cent in Tokyo on Monday.
Investment bank Rothschild advised on the sale of the Asian operations, a person with direct knowledge of the process said.
KPMG was also involved in the talks after being appointed as provisional liquidator to Lehman's Hong Kong operations.
On Sunday, more than 100 angry Hong Kong investors, many of them elderly retirees, marched on government offices, calling for action after losing money on structured products linked to Lehman. They accused the government and local banks of failing to warn them of the risks involved.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is acting as administrator for Lehman's European business, and is expected to move quickly as delays would cause Lehman to lose customers and staff.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday he was pushing the United States to help get US$8 billion from Lehman to its staff in Britain.
Administrators winding up Lehman's European business have questioned why that amount was transferred to New York just before the bank collapsed. -- REUTERS, AP
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