Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which sent global markets into a tailpsin after filing for bankruptcy in September 2008, is looking at spinning off its remaining assets, the Wall Street Journal said in an unsourced article.
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The assets include real-estate and private-equity holdings, the paper said, adding that the company is looking at investors who are willing to bet the assets will rise in value as the U.S. economy recovers.
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Internal Lehman calculations have pegged the fair-market value of the assets at about $45 billion, according to the paper.
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At non-distressed prices, Lehman values the assets at $400 billion, including $300 billion in the servicing of assets, the paper said.
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Lehman still owes creditors some $200 billion, the paper said.
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Lehman executives told the paper that their plan is first to legally separate the asset-holding company from the bankruptcy estate by the beginning of 2010 and later begin selling company shares to the public.
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"This would be a bridge to a better time," the paper quoted Bryan Marsal, Lehman's chief restructuring officer, as saying. "Today's market is an aberration. We don't think it will stay like this."
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Lehman could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.
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Its bankrupcty filing came as the global credit crisis engulfed Wall Street banks and many other financial companies, accelerating a massive selloff in world stock markets and further damaging credit markets.
