Japanese securities firm Nomura says it will acquire the Indian back office and technology operations of bankrupt Lehman Brothers. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Nomura will take over three Lehman firms based in Mumbai that were set up in 2005 to provide operational support and IT services across the US bank's network. The Indian operations house 3000 staff, including 1200 IT professionals.
The deal follows Nomura's acquisition of Lehman Brothers' franchise in Asia Pacific and European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking units last month. The Indian BPO unit was not included in the original deal because it was part of Lehman's North American business, which was sold to UK group Barclays.
Nomura says the acquisition of the Indian unit will "significantly enhance" its technology and support operations - such as financial control, operations, risk management and analytical support for investment banking, capital markets, research and prime services.
In addition, all assets as well as issued and outstanding shares of the three companies will be purchased by Nomura.
Kenichi Watanabe, president and CEO, Nomura, says the acquisition of Lehman's operations in Mumbai is "an important component of our global expansion strategy".
"It will allow us to significantly enhance our global service platform to support the business expansion that the combined talents of Nomura and Lehman will drive going forward," says Watanabe.
The carve up of Lehman's operations by Nomura and Barclays has not been straightforward, with a number of issues still to be resolved over ownership of assets, including technology assets operated globally but run from America.