Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank selling assets to pay creditors in the biggest U.S. bankruptcy, asked a judge to approve the disposal of a French investment-banking unit for 1 euro ($1.30).

Banque Nomura France, a unit of Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc., was the only bidder for the unit, which has equity capital of 33.5 million euros, Lehman said today in filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. In exchange for assuming unspecified liabilities, Nomura will gain employees, commercial records, information technology, furniture and other assets, Lehman said.

Lehman was “unable to find an alternate solution or buyer,” according to filings.

Banque Lehman Brothers SA, which focused on mergers and acquisitions, is being sold at a time when investment banks are in disarray. Merrill Lynch & Co. sold itself to Bank of America Corp. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have fallen 64 percent this year.

Once the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, New York-based Lehman had a market value of almost $46 billion in February.

In a filing yesterday, Lehman also asked the court to approve a settlement of debts between Lehman and its French units, reached after “tense” talks between a French administrator running the units and a New York-based restructuring firm, Alvarez & Marsal Inc.

The settlement will cut the French units’ claim against Lehman to 93.2 million euros from 178 million euros, Lehman said in court documents.

‘Serene Environment’

Negotiations “became so tense at one point” that the Lehman unit asked a Paris commercial court to appoint a conciliator whose job was “to provide a more serene environment,” according to the filing.

Lehman’s claims related to intercompany loans, deposits and an employee incentive plan. The French unit’s claim, which Lehman has disputed, stems from the parent’s cash management system, which left the division without funds after the bankruptcy, according to the filing.

The sale to Nomura depends on settling intercompany claims before Dec. 31, according to the filing.

Lehman filed bankruptcy on Sept. 15 with liabilities of $613 billion. Its bankrupt entities have taken in about $3.5 billion in cash from asset sales, Lehman’s lawyer said in court on Nov. 20.

The U.S. case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08- 13555, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 9, 2008 17:28 EST