Lehman to spin off venture capital arm-WSJ

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK) will spin off its venture capital arm into an independent firm, the latest move by the bankrupt securities firm to shed assets and raise cash, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

Lehman Brothers Venture Partners will be renamed Tenaya Capital and will have $750 million under management, the paper said.

The unit has offices in Boston and Silicon Valley and holds stakes in 47 technology companies, it said.

Investors include the Pennsylvania Public Schools Employees' Retirement System and the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, it added.

Tenaya will be owned by its five existing partners led by Thomas Banahan, Lehman's former global head of venture capital, the paper said. It is unclear how much the management is paying, it added.

Lehman has fully divested itself of the business, unlike recent deals for its money-management and flagship private-equity fund, in which it kept stakes, the Journal said.

Lehman Brothers could not be immediately reached by Reuters for comment. (Reporting by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)