After months of struggling to find just one investor, Lehman Brothers Inc. may now have two. Press reports say that not only has Korea Development Bank
floated an offer of $5.3 billion for a 25% stake in the investment bank, but that a HSBC Holdings plc-led consortium may be preparing a bid as well.
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The report first appeared in South Korean newspaper Daily Chosun Ilbo. In
addition to HSBC, the report said that a number of U.S. hedge funds and an
unidentified Chinese bank were also among potential investors.
However, Lehman is said to have a preference for selling a large stake
to KDB, which it thinks will keep the investment bank's management in
place. If the $5.3 billion offer is accurate, it would value Lehman at
roughly $21.2 billion, nearly double the bank's $11.2 billion market
cap at close on Tuesday.
- George White
See Reuters story
See Dealscape post on Lehman/KDB
See Dealscape post auction of Lehman assets
