U.S. judge approves Lehman asset sale to Barclays

Yahoo UK ^ | 9.20.08

[Perdogg]

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a revised version of Barclays' deal to purchase the core U.S. business of Lehman Brothers.

In a Manhattan court hearing that started on Friday and lasted past midnight, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck approved the sale, saying he had found no better alternative for the assets Lehman sought to sell.

"This week more than any other week since I was appointed to the bench I have felt the awesome power of this job," Peck told a packed Manhattan court room, at the end of a nearly seven-hour hearing

[Pearls Before Swine]

Wow, that was quick. I thought everything bigger than a traffic ticket was destined to drag on for months if not years.

Also, I bet a lot of judges say what he did, "This week more than any other week since I was appointed to the bench I have felt the awesome power of this job," but with more emphasis, and indeed, joy.

[wideawake]

Bankruptcy proceedings can be very quick, especially when thousands of jobs are at stake.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I bet it helps when just about everyone is in agreement and there aren’t any spurious “stakeholder” groups to gum up the process. I just didn’t know ANYTHING legal could be so quick—its contrary to my unfortunate experiences with the civil court system.

[wideawake]

I've followed bankruptcy proceedings that dragged on for years, as well.

But generally what happens these days are what are called "pre-packs" - the management and a committee representing the majority of the creditors of the company have high-level meetings to negotiate a reorganization plan before the Chapter 11 filing, and then they jointly present the pre-packaged plan to the court upon filing.

This makes the judge's life easier and the process less acrimonious. Every day a bankruptcy proceeding is dragged out more value is destroyed for stakeholders.

[Calpernia]

Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management banked with the Lehman Bros.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2086494/posts?page=1#1

[CharlesWayneCT]

HEre’s what looks like the most pertinent details of the deal:
“Barclays agreed to buy Lehman’s North American investment banking and capital markets businesses for about $1.75 billion”

“Barclays would absorb about $47.4 billion in securities and assume $45.5 billion in trading liabilities, attorneys said.”

“the purchase price for the real estate components of the deal would be $1.29 billion, including $960 million for Lehman’s New York headquarters and $330 million for two New Jersey data centres.”