British financial services provider Barclays has announced that Lehman Brothers has begun to reopen for business under the ownership of Barclays Capital. More than 10,000 Lehman Brothers employees have been offered jobs in the new entity.
These actions follow the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York's approval of Barclays agreement to acquire Lehman Brothers's fixed income and equity sales, trading and research; prime services; investment banking; principal investing; and private investment management businesses in North America.
The integration process for combined businesses began immediately after the court's decision. Employees from both organizations have been working to activate and integrate all risk and trading systems following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings. Lehman Brothers's banking and advisory functions are open for business. Lehman Brothers's capital markets and trading businesses will resume fully functional operations shortly. Barclays Capital's existing businesses are fully functional and not impacted by this transaction.
Employment offers have been made to all employees of the Lehman Brothers businesses that have been acquired by Barclays Capital, including Lehman Brothers Private Investment Management business, transferring to Barclays Wealth, the wealth management arm of Barclays.
The combined firm will use the Barclays Capital name. Barclays has purchased the rights to use the Lehman Brothers name, and will consider opportunities to do so.
Bob Diamond, president of Barclays and CEO of Barclays Investment Banking and Investment Management, said: "The Barclays-Lehman Brothers partnership is now a reality. We have been delighted by the enthusiastic response of the senior Lehman Brothers executives to whom we have offered leadership positions in our combined firm. Together, we can be a truly powerful firm across all the global capital markets."
|