Nomura hit by lawsuit
A LONDON headhunter is seeking “a commercially absurd sum” in a legal spat over how Nomura kept star bankers as part of its takeover of Lehman Brothers in Europe, the Japanese bank said yesterday.
Documents filed at London’s High Court show there is a dispute between Nomura and Hogarth Davies Lloyd.
“There is a dispute about the extent of HDL’s role in the Lehman Brothers acquisition and the fee that is properly due,” Nomura said in a statement attributed to Stephen Sidebottom, the bank’s head of human resources in Europe.
“The claim is misconceived and HDL is seeking a commercially absurd sum,” Sidebottom said.
It is understood that the fee Hogarth is seeking could be as high as £90m
But industry experts say that as the employment deal was part of a merger, standard headhunting fees do not apply in this instance.
Hogarth was yesterday unavailable for comment.
The takeover of Lehman by Nomura is understood to have created a culture clash between Nomura staff and the new Lehman arrivals, especially as many of the Lehman bankers were offered long-term lucrative pay deals to prevent an exodus.