Neuberger action moves to court
The sale of the Neuberger asset management arm of Lehman might have been agreed back in September, but it’s not quite a done deal.
The whole process has been rather messy — Lehman put a majority percentage of the prized asset management arm up for sale in August, prior to filing for bankruptcy.
The unit, one of Lehman’s best performing assets, drew interest from a number of private equity bidders such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Hellman & Friedman, Blackstone, Bain Capital and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, sources previously said.
Some estimates valued the unit between $8 billion and $10 billion.
After its September bankruptcy filing, the whole of the asset was marketed. Bidders were whittled down to the winning team of Bain Capital LLC and Hellman & Friedman LLC who clinched the deal for $2.15 billion.
Typically, that would have been the end of it — but because the sale was being done after Lehman filed for bankruptcy, an auction is to take place and could draw counter bids. The 45-day clock for the auction started ticking in October and stops at noon on Monday.
The most likely potential bid could come from Carlyle Group, which together with former Neuberger Berman Chief Executive Jeffrey Lane, in October filed an objection to the sale of Neuberger and said in court it would itself be interested bidding, but believed that Bain and H&F had an unfair advantage.
