Lehman unloads its banking divisions to Barclays

無法笑

Barclays gets Lehman's North American banking and capital markets units for a Wall Street song .

Lehman Brothers, which a year ago had a market capitalization of more than $33 billion, is now unloading its once-prized businesses for what passes as pocket change on Wall Street.

Barclays PLC, the third-largest British bank, took advantage of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy reorganization Tuesday to reach a deal for Lehman's North American investment banking and trading operations for just $250 million.

Barclays also picked up Lehman's New York headquarters and two data centers in New Jersey for $1.5 billion.

It marks a major coup for the U.K. bank, which agreed to buy the assets just days after walking away from a deal to purchase all of Lehman.

The U.S. investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday after it was unable to find financing or fresh capital to shore up its balance sheet amid a continued downturn in the credit markets.

The deals require approval from the bankruptcy court.