Private equity firms to buy Lehman's Neuberger

September 30, 2008

NEW YORK Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. yesterday agreed to sell its investment management business to a pair of private equity firms, fetching $2.15 billion as the bankrupt investment bank continues its liquidation. Bain Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman, two of the nation's biggest buyout firms, will now control Lehman's operations in fixed-income and alternative asset management. The deal includes money management firm Neuberger Berman, a 69-year-old name on Wall Street that now manages more than $130 billion of investments. Lehman has been scrambling to sell off healthy portions of the investment bank, whose bankruptcy filing Sept. 15 was the biggest in U.S. history. The investment house sold its key North American businesses, including investment banking, to Britain's Barclays PLC for $1.7 billion in cash. Nomura, Japan's largest brokerage, bought Lehman's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Associated Press