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Barclays interested in other Lehman Brothers assets and staff

Barclays PLC said Wednesday it may pick up some of Lehman Brothers assets and employees in Europe and Asia, on top of the British bank's deal to acquire key US operations from the failed investment bank.

The third-largest British bank took advantage of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy reorganization to reach a deal on Tuesday for Lehman's North American investment banking and trading operations for just 250 million US dollars. Barclays also picked up Lehman's New York headquarters and two data centers in New Jersey for 1.5 billion, all subject to court and regulatory approval. Barclays President Robert D. Diamond Jr. said in a conference call with analysts that Barclays' interest was primarily in the US cash equities business, as part of the company's goal to boost its earnings from North America. "It's an absolute machine, it's extremely profitable" Diamond said. "We wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to add some of the talent from the U.K. and Europe to the team" Diamond added. In a statement earlier Wednesday to the London Stock Exchange, Barclays confirmed the deal and said that some of its shareholders had expressed interest in subscribing to at least one billion of additional equity in support of the acquisition and to beef up Barclays' capital base. "The proposed acquisition of Lehman Brothers North American investment banking and capital market operations accelerates the execution of our strategy of diversification by geography and business in pursuit of profitable growth on behalf of our shareholders, in particular increasing the percentage of Barclays earnings sourced in North America" said Group Chief Executive John Varley "This transaction delivers the strategic benefits of a combination with Lehman Brothers core franchise, whilst meeting Barclays strict financial criteria, and strengthening our capital ratios" Meanwhile PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which is administering Lehman's assets in London, said staff there would receive their September pay packets â€" as long as they come into work. In efforts to close the sale of U.S. assets, Lehman asked a bankruptcy judge on Wednesday for initial approval of the sale of assets to Barclays Capital Inc. for 1.7 billion US dollars in cash. The matter was scheduled for a hearing Wednesday and a second hearing for final approval may be held Friday, according to the court filing. Lehman lawyers said the investment bank needed to close the deal quickly to preserve the remaining value of its assets. The agreement with Barclays calls for the deal to close within a week, on or before Sept. 23.