After turning down a shot at buying all of Lehman Brothers over the weekend, British bank Barclays just picked up the core of the investment bank for $250 million. It spent another $1.5 billion to buy Lehman’s New York headquarters building and a couple of data centers. You read that right: the buildings went for six times more than the bank. From the press release:
The Board of Barclays announces that Barclays has agreed, subject to US Court and relevant regulatory approvals, to acquire Lehman Brothers North American investment banking and capital markets operations and supporting infrastructure. The transaction will create a premier integrated global bulge bracket investment banking company with a leading presence in all major markets and across all major lines of business including: equity capital markets, debt capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, commodities trading and foreign exchange.
Barclays will acquire trading assets with a current estimated value of £40bn (US$72bn) and trading liabilities with a current estimated value of £38bn (US$68bn) for a cash consideration of £0.14bn (US$0.25bn). Barclays will also acquire the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers as well as its two data centres at close to their current market value.
I just looked out the window and see lots of lights on in the Lehman building across the way. But I can’t see any dancing in the hallways.
Oh, and the feds are buying AIG. I’ve got a TIME.com story up about that. Next up: Shamu buys Wamu.