Private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC of San Francisco is in talks with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. of New York to purchase the bankrupt investment bank’s asset management business, according to an investment banking source familiar with the discussions.
“The pricing will be far below the $8 billion reported originally,” the source, who asked not to be named, said.
According to the banker, the value of the deal would be closer to $3 billion for 100% of the Lehman Brothers, which includes storied investment manager Neuberger Berman.
An online survey conducted by InvestmentNews days before the bankruptcy revealed that 82% of financial advisers were sticking with Neuberger Berman.
As Wall Street’s financial crisis spun out of control, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in Sept. 13.
Other sources said that, along with Hellman & Friedman, another private-equity firm may also be involved in the talks for the Lehman Brothers business.
Lehman Brothers asset management business had $277 billion in client assets at the end of May.
When asked about the potential deal, a spokeswoman for Hellman & Friedman, Monica Everett, said the firm was “not going to comment on that.”
Hellman & Friedman is no stranger to the financial services business.
In 2005, it became one of two private-equity firms to own a majority stake in LPL Financial of Boston, the industry’s largest independent-contractor broker-dealer.
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