Carlyle Group, the US private equity giant, is to launch a rival bid for Neuberger Berman, the highly prized asset management arm of Lehman Brothers, the collapsed Wall Street bank.

Carlyle has joined forces with Jeffrey Lane, the former chief executive of Neuberger, to demand a "real auction" for the unit, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Neuberger was bought by Bain Capital and Hellman and Friedman for $2.15 billion at the end of September, but yesterday Carlyle and Mr Lane filed an objection to the sale in a bankruptcy court in New York.

The sale price was about half the original offer made by Bain and Hellman, and a significantly lower amount than Neuberger would have sold for before Lehman collapsed.

In their objection, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Carlyle and Mr Lane said that the price paid for Neuberger was too low, and violated Lehman's obligation to ensure it wins the highest possible price for asset sales to pay off its creditors.

Carlyle and Mr Lane also argued that the actual price Neuberger sold for was closer to $1.55 billion, once provisions and adjustments in the sale agreement were taken into account.

A federal bankruptcy court will hold a hearing into the matter on Thursday. Bain and Hellman's acquisition has yet to be approved by the courts. The official creditors committee and unofficial bondholders group will also lodge their objections later this week.

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