Goldman eyes stakes in Lehman's private equity funds: report

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), Coller Capital and Lexington Partners Inc are weighing bids for collapsed U.S. bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's (LEHMQ.PK) investments in U.S. and European private-equity funds, Bloomberg said citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Lehman is trying to sell stakes in real estate, merchant banking and venture-capital funds with about $15 billion of assets, the agency said citing the sources, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.

The venture capital portion is expected to be sold by November, the merchant holdings and real estate by year end, the agency said.

As many as a dozen potential buyers have indicated interest, one of the people told the agency.

Goldman Sachs, Coller Capital and Lexington Partners could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore)