Barclays to acquire Lehman Brothers’ assets for £1bn

by Gill Montia

Story link: Barclays to acquire Lehman Brothers’ assets for £1bn

After walking away from last weekend’s discussions aimed at saving Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy, Barclays has confirmed that it is spending around £1 billion acquiring some of the investment bank’s assets.

The purchases include Lehman Bothers’ prestigious New York headquarters; its investment banking and capital markets businesses and two data centres.

In all, around 9,000 Lehman Brothers staff are involved.

Lehman’s investment management division, which includes its cherished Neuberger Berman fund management unit, is not included in the sale.

The merger of the businesses with Barclays Capital could create the third-largest investment bank in the US.

According to Bob Diamond, head of Barclays Capital, the acquisition is a once in a lifetime opportunity for his bank.

However, the deal needs to be approved by the US bankruptcy court and Barclays will need to raise new capital to fund its ambitions.

Back in March, Mr Diamond announced that he intended spending more time in New York and would split his time equally between Manhattan and London in a move aimed at building the bank’s presence on Wall Street.