Nomura said it would buy Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific, including Japan and Australia and 3000 staff. It will pay up to $US525 million ($623 million) for the business, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Nomura has also emerged as the front-runner to buy the bankrupt bank's businesses in Europe. The administrators in Europe, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said they were in talks with one party regarding the investment banking and equities business, and a source familiar with the matter confirmed it was Nomura.
Lehman has about 6000 staff in Europe.
Administrators and senior Lehman staff are working to save as many jobs and as much business as possible from the wreckage of what was Wall Street's fourth-biggest investment bank.
PwC said its discussions with one potential bidder in Europe "should result in a better deal for staff and creditors."
British bank Barclays, which last week bought Lehman's core US business, was interested in the European equities business but not all of the business, a person familiar with the matter said.
Lehman last week filed for bankruptcy protection after collapsing from its exposure to risky subprime mortgage securities. Barclays struck a $US1.75 billion deal to rescue the US investment banking business, and signaled it might do the same for other units.
A deal for Lehman's investment management unit, which includes the crown jewel, Neuberger Berman, is still being hammered out. Private equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman have teamed up to bid for the assets, sources said. It was unclear whether other buyout firms such as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR, who were originally pursuing the unit, were still interested.
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 $US1.4 billion, nearly matching the whole of 2006 and accounting for roughly 20 percent of the bank's overall revenues.
The Tokyo office has a large fixed income group, while Hong Kong mainly houses M&A, equity capital and debt capital bankers.
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.
Macquarie shares rebound
Investor Report: Cash for Future Equity
