![]()
- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Obama in China Grapples with Economic Strains
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Stake in Wal-Mart
- Microsoft Co-founder Allen Diagnosed with Cancer
- Time Warner to Spin Off AOL on December 9
- Gates Boosts Waste Management, Coca Cola Stakes
- What's Kept Stock Rally Going? Fear, Not Confidence
- US Cities With Most Underwater Mortgages
- Citi Shares, A Strange Indicator Of Unemployment?
- Answers to Your Questions: A Path to Economic Disaster?
- 5 Ways to Play the Chinese Markets: Analyst
- Meredith Whitney: Turns Bearish
- 3 Stock Plays on Rising College Costs
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Nov. 16: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Getting to the Heart of the Merck-Abbott Embargo Break
- What MGM's Sale Could Say About Value of Content
- My Ratings on Lowe's & Home Depot: Analyst
MOST SHARED
- Stocks Overvalued, Recession Will Return: Meredith Whitney
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- U.S. May Wind Up Green With Envy
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- BofA Ex-Counsel: I Was 'Stunned' When I Got Fired
- Solar Emerges From A Dark Period
- CNBC Video: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates - Keeping American Great
- Stanford Receiver to Release Funds Of Frozen Acounts
- Millions May Have to Repay Part of Obama Tax Credit
- Gold Is in a 'Bubble' And Will Keep Going Higher: Gartman
Troubled investment bank Lehman Brothers is in talks to sell its CDOs and mortgage related assets to money management powerhouse Blackrock, CNBC has learned.
![]() |
CNBC.com |
The deal comes as Lehman [LEH
Loading...
()
] grapples with the growing likelihood that it will announce another big writedown of bad debt on its books; analysts have estimated that Lehman's writedown for the third quarter could be around $3 billion.
In June CNBC first reported that Lehman Brothers executives met with officials at BlackRock [BLK
Loading...
()
], including its CEO Larry Fink about the possible sale of the CDOs, or collateralized debt obligations, and other soured securities.
Since then Lehman's financial condition has deteriorated with the firm announcing massive writedowns, losses and the need to raise capital.
People close to Lehman say the firm has also weighed selling a piece or all of its money-management subsidiary Neuberger & Berman.
These sources say that private equity firms are still interested is snapping up Neuberger buts its unclear if Lehman will ultimate sell because Neuberger is considered a "core asset" and the firm may be downgraded if it unloads even a piece of a business that produces steady revenues.
In terms of a potential deal with Blackrock, its unclear exactly how that would look.
The New York Post reported that Lehman is interested in unloading its CDOs to an unnamed party in the same fashion as Merrill, which financed 75% of its recent sale of CDOs to hedge fund Loan Star, meaning it lent Loan Star most of the money to buy the securities.
Merrill [MER
Loading...
()
] agreed to sell $30.6 billion of CDOs to an affiliate of Lone Star for just $6.7 billion, or about 22 cents on the dollar.
Merrill, meanwhile, is weighing whether to make an official filing with the SEC about the asset sales
The filing, which could come as early as Monday, would provide new details about the sale of the CDOs, which has drawn considerable criticism over its structure, including the sale of troubled mortgage paper for just pennies on the dollar.
So far Merrill has only issued a press release on the deal, but after the filing is made, senior merrill officials are expected to start making public statements about why the deal is good for the firm.
Merrill officials, including CEO John Thain, haven't comment on the deal, since its announcement on Monday night.
A Merrill spokeswoman had no comment at the moment, Merrill is not providing much information on exactly what type of CDOs it's selling. For the reason, analysts can't figure out if Merrill is getting a good deal.
- Where, what, how.
- CNBC's Jim Goldman asks: Has the sun begun to set on Twitter? Data suggests its best days are over.
- Everyone wanted a piece of Madoff's "Bullship"--the famous buoy sold for $7,500 at auction. You won't believe these prices.
- De Loach Vineyards is selling its pinot noir the old fashioned way, helping to cut energy and transportation costs.
- Why are the Chinese concerned about the progress of U.S. health care legislation?
- CNBC's Maria Bartiromo talks to rapper Snoop Dogg about brand identity in both business and music.













