Lehman Brothers Holdings is looking to raise capital overseas and has approached at least one investor in South Korea, the Wall Street Journalreported this morning.
Lehman shares fell 9.5 per cent to near a five-year low yesterday on concerns that it may need to raise more capital.
According to the newspaper, options for Lehman in Korea include the state-run Korea Development Bank and Woori Financial Group.
Korean Investment Corp (KIC), a sovereign wealth fund that manages about $20 billion and is an investor in Merrill Lynch & Co, is unlikely to invest in Lehman, the newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the situation.
KIC declined to comment when contacted, while Lehman officials in its Tokyo and Seoul offices were not available for comment.
Two major South Korean investment agencies - the National Pension Service and the Korea Asset Management Corp - said they were not aware of any possible capital injection in the Wall Street bank.
An executive of state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) also said he had not heard about its investment plan in Lehman. KDB will have the head of Lehman Brothers's local operations, Euoo Sung Min, as its new CEO soon.