Nomura, Japan’s largest brokerage house, will pay around $230 million (£125 million) to acquire the Asian business of Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt US investment bank, in a deal described by company insiders as “a steal”.

The deal, which sources close to Nomura told The Times was signed earlier today, pips Barclays to the post and will put the Japanese bank in control of Lehman’s extensive equity business and investment banking operations.

Nomura's victory over Barclays for Lehman's Asian assets coincides with both banks' battle to buy large parts of the defunct US bank's European operations.

It is understood that Nomura and Barclays tabled final bids for the assets last night and it is hoped a final decision will be made in the next 24 hours.

The Asian operations of Lehman Brothers extend from Australia to mainland China, and include Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. The company’s South Korean business has not yet been acquired by Nomura for regulatory reasons that appear likely to be resolved within a few weeks.

Analysts at Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ, which had earlier also considered bidding for Lehman’s Asia business, said that the acquisition offered clear evidence of Japan’s readiness to exploit the extraordinary turmoil of the past few weeks.

One Nomura source described the deal as “transformative” for the company, enabling the Japanese company to springboard into Asia at a pace and price that “would not have been dreamed of” as little as two weeks ago.

In common with other leading Japanese financial houses, Nomura has weathered the sub-prime storm with far less damage to its business or balance sheet than most US or European groups.

As well as interest from Barclays, Lehman’s Asia business is understood to have attracted bids from Standard Chartered.

The speed of the Nomura deal surprised veteran Japan watchers, who doubted that Nomura would be aggressive and nimble enough to outbid Barclays.

The deal, say Nomura sources, was hammered out over the weekend and represents perhaps the fastest M&A decision made by the notoriously conservative Japanese broker.

Nomura is likely to completely absorb the former Lehman businesses in Asia, rebranding the operations as part of its efforts to turn itself from being a heavily domestic-focused brokerage to more of an international player.

Lehman’s Asia businesses employed around 3,000 staff, of whom a “significant proportion” are expected to be retained.

Rumours of the deal provided relief to Lehman Brothers' employees in Tokyo who have spent a week in limbo. Last Monday, staff left the glitzy Lehman offices in central Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills complex with cardboard boxes and what appeared to be little hope of return.

Sales traders, analysts and equity brokers are now being told to come back to their offices on Wednesday, after a Japanese national holiday tomorrow.

Others were more wary, saying that because of the duplication of equity brokers and analysts with Nomura’s huge domestic operations in Japan, Lehman’s Japanese operations were likely to experience the heaviest cuts in headcount.

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