Nomura to buy Lehman's banking, equities units in Europe, Middle East
23 Sep 2008
Mumbai: Japan's Nomura Holdings, which yesterday made a $225 million deal to acquire the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers, has now agreed to acquire the failed US investment bank's European and Middle Eastern investment banking and equities operations for an undisclosed sum.
Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan's biggest securities firm, will absorb most of Lehman's approximately 2,500 employees in the Europe and the Middle East, it said in a statement.
Nomura had yesterday offered to absorb 3,000 employees of Lehman's Asia- Pacific unit.
Japan's largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc has, meanwhile, agreed to buy 20 per cent of Morgan Stanley for $8.4 billion.
Nomura is now restarting an overseas push as losses on US mortgage investments mount.
''In the past 24 hours Nomura has executed two transformational deals,'' president Kenichi Watanabe said in a statement, adding, ''This transaction will significantly extend our European footprint.''
Meanwhile, the Bank of England pumped another $40 billion into money markets in a bid to ease credit-crunch pressures.
The BoE, which began offering the sum on a daily basis on Thursday last, is lending more cash to banking institutions that are facing funding problems.
