New York: Japanese financial services major Nomura Holdings is all set to buy the Indian operations of beleaguered Lehman Brothers and is likely to retain nearly 2,000 strong workforce, media reports said.

“Nomura Holdings Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire for several billion yen Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Indian operations that have handled the bankrupt US firm’s global back-office duties and information technology development,” Japan’s business daily The Nikkei reported.

The back office operations of Lehman based in Mumbai has more than 2,000 employees and handle the investment bank’s information technology and research and development (R&D) activities among others. In addition, the back office was also handling trading settlement duties.

Meanwhile, AFP said that the Japanese firm “reportedly decided to make the extra investment as the Indian base has talented IT workers and has functioned as the heart of Lehman’s cutting-edge systems”.

Battered by huge losses in the American mortgage market, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection two weeks back with the US regulator. Since then, the firm has been disposing off its assets and Nomura snapped up the investment bank’s Asia-Pacific, European and Middle East operations.

Reportedly, the number of Lehman employees taken by Nomura would be about 8,000, once the Japanese firm acquires Indian operations.

Lehman’s North American operations were acquired by British banking major Barclays.