Neuberger Berman is indeed involved in buyout talks. The asset management firm confirmed the week-old rumors in a statement released after 5 pm last Friday. Officials said they were confirming the news because of a pending offering of a closed-end fund. Any material events affecting the offering must be disclosed and a sale of the firm would undoubtedly be a material event for the shareholders.

Neuberger officials also extended the subscription for the Closed-End Income Opportunity Fund until July 2.

The statement did not identify the party in discussions with Neuberger. However, press reports last week stated that Lehman Brothers officials were holding talks with Neuberger executives. Speculation is that Lehman is interested in the asset manager as a way to diversify its revenue stream and would be willing to pay somewhere near $3 billion to buy Neuberger's $56 billion in assets under management. The investment bank has no significant asset management business today.

Neuberger's statement added that "there can be no assurance that these discussions will result in a transaction" and that it plans no "additional comments on this matter unless and until a definitive agreement has been reached."  

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