By Emily Chasan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck approved the deal at a hearing. The deal is worth $922 million after adjustments, Lori Fife, a bankruptcy attorney representing Lehman, said in court.
The management group beat out an earlier offer by private equity firms Bain Capital LLC and Hellman & Friedman LLC, which originally valued the asset management firm at $2.15 billion. That figure was reduced at an auction earlier this month due to the market slump.
Under the deal, Neuberger's management will own 51 percent of the company and Lehman's creditors will control the remainder.
The court approval concluded a drawn-out sale process. Lehman put part of Neuberger up for sale in August but failed to find a buyer before filing for bankruptcy in September.
A company hired to sell the business contacted 80 different parties about possibly buying it, Fife said.
The deal is not expected to close for several months, as the new company has to solicit consents from the firm's clients, Fife said.
Founded in 1939 by Roy Neuberger, the business had $160 billion of assets under management as of November 30, it said.
The case is: In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-13555.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan, Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and John Wallace)
