Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest investment bank, moved closer to buying Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s European investment banking and equities units after Barclays Plc only expressed interest in buying one of the divisions, three people familiar with the discussions said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is sounding out potential buyers for the operation, is in advanced talks with Nomura and may agree to a sale in the next two days, said the people, who declined to identified before an announcement. Barclays, which had sought to acquire only Lehman's equities unit, may still try to buy parts of the division, the people said.

``We are now focusing on one party as they are interested in acquiring a wider team, which should result in a better deal for staff and creditors,'' PwC partner Dan Schwarzmann said. He declined to identify the bidder by name. ``Given the complexity of Lehman Brothers, these negotiations are difficult, but I'm hoping to give certainty to all involved in the short term.''

Nomura is also close to buying Lehman's Asian unit, three people familiar with the talks said. Last week's turmoil in the financial markets reshaped Wall Street, and provided Asian and European firms with an opportunity to grab market share in trading, underwriting stock sales and advising companies on takeovers. Nomura President Kenichi Watanabe is now restarting an overseas push that was rolled back by predecessor Nobuyuki Koga in 2007 as losses on U.S. mortgage investments mounted.

Asia Units

Nomura would take over Lehman's equity and investment banking operations in Asia, one of the people said. Nomura agreed to pay $225 million for the operations, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing a person it didn't identify. Lehman employs about 3,000 people in the region.

PwC has been seeking buyers for the European units after the New York-based bank filed the world's biggest bankruptcy on Sept. 15. The takeover would follow London-based Barclays Plc's purchase of Lehman's U.S. investment banking unit for $250 million on Sept. 17. PwC is still seeking to recoup about $8 billion in cash the U.S. parent allegedly withheld before filing for bankruptcy protection last week. The firm is seeking to recover the cash to pay creditors in Europe.

Lehman is ranked 12th in European merger advisory work this year, down from seventh in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bank helped advise Continental AG, Europe's second largest car parts maker, on a bid from Schaeffler Group.

`Extremely Strong'

``Some of Lehman's assets in Europe are extremely strong,'' said Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, a Sanford Bernstein & Co. analyst in London. ``It's an attractive proposition.'' The two units employ almost 1,500 people between them.

Barclays President Robert Diamond struck what he called the deal of a ``lifetime'' last week when he acquired Lehman's North American investment banking arm. He wants to grab market share from Wall Street firms weakened by the credit crunch and break into the ``top tier'' of U.S. securities firms. Less than 5 percent of the U.S. assets Barclays bought are mortgage-related.

Barclays spokesman Leigh Bruce and a Nomura spokeswoman both declined to comment.

Lehman is separately selling off pieces that weren't included in the holding company's bankruptcy filing. The company is also in talks to offer its investment-management unit to private-equity bidders Bain Capital LLC and Hellman & Friedman LLC, people familiar with the negotiations said last week.

Lehman established a presence in Paris in 1960, followed by London in 1972, according to its Web site.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jacqueline Simmons in Paris jackiem@bloomberg.net; Elisa Martinuzzi in Milan at emartinuzzi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 08:25 EDT