Lehman’s remaining assets set to rise from ashes as a spin off is considered
LEHMAN Brothers Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy last September, is now looking at spinning off its remaining assets.
The assets, which include real-estate and private-equity holdings held in its Legacy Asset Management unit, are believed to currently be valued at around $45bn, but which at non-distressed prices could fetch up to $400bn according to internal Lehman calculations.
A sale of the assets would be the most significant move yet to clean up the bankruptcy estate of the ex-investment bank.
Lehman is hoping to legally separate the asset-holding company from the bankruptcy estate by the start of next year, before selling shares in the company.
While the aim of the new venture will be in part to manage Lehman’s legacy property holdings, Lehman is hoping that, once spun off, the company could eventually begin to actively invest in property again.
“It will take some time, but we hope this would turn into a real business that could also manage the assets of other businesses,” Bryan Marsal, Lehman’s chief restructuring officer and co-chief executive of the advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, was reported as saying yesterday.
The plan, which remains at a preliminary stage, is dependent on the approval of Lehman’s creditors, board and a US bankruptcy judge.