Nomura, Japan's largest brokerage, said Sept. 23 it would buy the European and Middle Eastern operations of Lehman Brothers — just a day after the giant announced the acquisition of the Asian units of the bankrupt U.S. investment bank.

Nomura Holdings headquarters in Tokyo's Chuo ward KYODO PHOTO

Nomura Holdings Inc. said it would take over Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s equities and investment banking operations in Europe and the Middle East.

"This transaction will significantly extend our European footprint and international reach, enabling us to realize our strategy of delivering Asia to the world," Nomura's CEO Kenichi Watanabe said in a statement.

The top Japanese brokerage did not disclose a price tag for the European deal. Nomura's acquisition of Lehman's Asian operations was valued at around $225 million.

Lehman's European and Middle Eastern units employ about 2,500 staff in 20 offices, and Nomura said "a significant proportion" of them would be retained following the acquisition. Nomura said Sept. 22 it would keep Lehman's 3,000 employees in Asia.

The European and Asian deals did not include trading assets or trading liabilities, Nomura said.

Billions of dollars in losses from mortgage-link debt forced Lehman, once the No. 4 investment bank in the U.S., to file the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Sept. 15.

Nomura was competing with Barclays PLC to buy Lehman's Asian and European operations. The British bank declined to buy the Wall Street firm in its entirety, but purchased Lehman units that employ about 9,000 employees in the United States.