Barclays mulls purchase of Lehman assets

Barclays, the third biggest British bank, said on Tuesday it was in discussions with Lehman Brothers about buying certain assets of the stricken United States investment bank.

“Barclays confirms that it is discussing with Lehman Brothers the possible acquisition of certain Lehman Brothers assets on terms that would be attractive to Barclays shareholders,” the British bank said in an official statement.

The Wall Street Journal had on Tuesday reported that Lehman was negotiating a plan to sell large portions of itself to Barclays.

Barclays America chairperson Archibald Cox Jnr was leading the talks and it was hoped that an agreement would be reached by Tuesday, said the WSJ, citing “a person involved in the talks”.

The business daily added that a deal for Lehman’s broker-dealer business would see at least 10 000 staff at the US bank transfer to Barclays.

Lehman’s troubled assets, such as mortgage securities, would be left behind for creditors to liquidate as they saw fit, said the WSJ.

Barclays had at the weekend walked away from a merger deal with Lehman, saying that such a tie-up would not have been in the best interests of Barclays shareholders.

Lehman went bankrupt on Monday, plunging the global financial system into turmoil. The massive Lehman bankruptcy filing in US federal court in New York listed $639-billion in assets and $613-billion in debt.

Barclays added in its statement on Tuesday: “There can be no assurance that the discussions [with Lehman] will result in an agreement.

A further announcement will be made in due course.”—AFP