A bankruptcy judge on Thursday greenlighted bid procedures for the sale of Lehman Brothers' investment management unit, including Neuberger Berman, in a bankruptcy auction, Reuters reports. The auction will take place in December and a sale hearing is scheduled 15 days after the auction. Private equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman LLC, which late last month reached a deal with Lehman to buy the unit for $2.15 billion, will be the lead bidder at the auction.

The sale procedures approved by Judge James Peck includes some bid protections for Bain and Hellman including a $52.5 million break-up fee and the ability to solicit consent from the company's clients before the auction, according to the report.

A lawyer for the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm which, together with ex-Neuberger Berman CEO Jeffrey Lane, is interested in bidding for the investment management division at auction (see The MFWire, October 15, 2008), said the client consent solicitation puts Bain and Hellman at an unfair advantage. The judge said he had some concerns about the consent solicitation, but added there there was no better alternative at this time. 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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