British bank Barclays announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Lehman Brothers North American investment banking and capital markets operations. The deal, subject to US court approval, will include trading assets worth £40bn and trading liabilities valued at £38bn, the bank said in a statement. Barclays said that it will pay £140mln in cash for the deal and will spend around £800mln to acquire the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers as well as its two data centres.

British bank Barclays announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Lehman Brothers North American investment banking and capital markets operations. The deal, subject to US court approval, will include trading assets worth £40bn and trading liabilities valued at £38bn, the bank said in a statement. Barclays said that it will pay £140mln in cash for the deal and will spend around £800mln to acquire the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers as well as its two data centres.

'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Barclays,' said Robert E Diamond Jr, Barclays President. 'We will now have the best team and most productive culture across the world's major financial markets, backed by the resources of an integrated universal bank.'