Nomura to set up $1bn pool to retain Lehman staff

Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 3:09 am

Having acquired the Europe and Middle East operations of Lehman Brothers on Tuesday, the Japanese brokerage firm Nomura has decided to create a bonus pool of over one billion dollars to retain the employees of the battered American investment banker.

“Nomura agreed to put up the cash in a bid to retain the employees from equities and investment banking divisions of Lehman in Europe and the Middle East. The bonus pool (about Rs 4,500 crore) will be shared between the employees over two years,” Financial Times reported today.

The Japanese financial services major has acquired parts of the European and Middle Eastern operations of Lehman for meagre two dollars.

According to the report quoting Nomura, the bank expected to retain a “significant proportion” of the 2,500 employees, although some would inevitably leave.

Quoting Sadeq Sayeed, Nomura’s special adviser, the newspaper said: “Slavery was abolished a long time ago. We cannot control people in any other way apart from creating an environment which is conducive for them”.

The report published in the online edition of the newspaper said that the news of Nomura’s European deal comes just one day after it paid 225 million dollars to clinch Lehman’s Asian-Pacific franchise by defeating other interested parties including Barclays. The US bank has about 3,000 staff in Asia, half of which are located in Tokyo, it added.

The Financial Times said the acquisition of Lehman’s European business would give Nomura the scale needed to compete with its larger international rivals with the aim of increasing its overseas revenues from 20 per cent to more than 30 per cent by 2011.

About 50 per cent of Lehman’s 2007 revenue was generated in Europe and Asia.

“This transaction will enable Nomura to punch its weight in the international market,” Sayeed was quoted as saying.

The deal does not include any of Lehman’s trading assets or trading liabilities or its European real-estate assets.   Further, the report noted that US private equity players –Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman– have teamed up to bid for the rump of Lehman’s investment management arm, which includes the Neuberger Berman asset management business, and its USD 35-billion private equity business.

Barclays last week agreed to acquire the private investment management arm of the business, leaving assets estimated to be less than Lehman’s earlier five billion dollar asking price.

“The asset management businesses are not part of the bankruptcy but Lehman has put them up for sale and needs buyers in the next few days or risks losing clients and valued employees.

“Executives at the private equity arm are also considering a management buy-out should its sale fall through,” the report added.

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Nomura to set up $1bn pool to retain Lehman staff

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