Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to sell $2.5 billion in bankruptcy claims that the failed investment bank holds against its U.S. brokerage arm, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The claims will be sold for $619 million, or about 24.8 percent of face value. The Lehman parent company had said in late August that it intended to "explore monetization opportunities" related to the unsecured claims. Lehman's holding company, which officially exited bankruptcy in 2012, owns a $6.9 billion unsecured creditor claim against its U.S. brokerage arm. Most of the brokerage business was sold to Barclays PLC following Lehman's September 2008 collapse. The proposed sale of the claims would raise funds to pay off the billions the holding company owes its customers and other creditors. All told, more than 2,600 unsecured claims totaling about $20 billion have been allowed against the brokerage, and another $6.8 billion in claims are still unresolved.
