Barclays to Pay $1.75B for Lehman Assets

Barclays PLC, London, has agreed to pay an estimated combined price of 1 billion pounds ($1.75 billion) for three of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers' New York-area facilities and for certain of Lehman's North American businesses -- including its partially mortgage-related fixed-income sales, trading, and research unit. Barclays said it plans to pay an estimated 800 million pounds ($1 billion) for Lehman's head office in New York as well as two data centers in New Jersey. It is also set to pay just 140 million pounds ($250 million) for Lehman's North American investment banking and capital markets businesses. The North American Lehman businesses that Barclays plans to buy have about 10,000 employees, trading assets with an estimated value of £40 billion ($72 billion), and trading liabilities with an estimated value of £38 billion ($68 billion), according to Barclays.