MUMBAI: Lehman Brothers’ back-office employees in Mumbai heaved a sigh of relief with Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings announcing on Monday that it would acquire its Powai office for an undisclosed amount. The deal ensures that all 3,000 employees at this office would retain their jobs, said a press release.



All assets as well as issued and outstanding shares of the three companies — Lehman Brothers Services India, Lehman Brothers Financial Services India and Lehman Brothers Structured Finance Services — will be purchased by Nomura. The Japanese brokerage beat competitors like Barclays and Credit Suisse to clinch the deal.



“The acquisition of Lehman’s operations in Powai 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,” said Nomura president and CEO Kenichi Watanabe.



However, there are certain legal obligations yet to be cleared by both parties. According to a service contract between Lehman Brothers Holdings and the Powai-based back-office, Nomura will have to continue to provide certain services — IT functions, support operations like financial control and analytical support for various business verticals including investment banking, capital markets and research — to Barclays, which bought Lehman’s North American business.



“Nomura is anxious to complete its service obligations,” the MD & CEO of Lehman Brothers’ Powai operations, RK Rangan is believed to have said at an internal meeting. However, the details of how this contract would be fulfilled are yet to be worked out by the top managements of both firms.



The deal was signed early Monday morning and employees were told that they were yet to work out specific details on salary and employee benefits. However, employees were assured that their salaries would be retained and their new employee contracts would come by the end of the week. The bonus cycles, too, will be different as Lehman followed the January to November period and Nomura follows the April to March cycle.