Hedge fund manager Harbinger Capital Partners filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York today seeking a delay in the approval of the sale of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to Barclays PLC.
Harbinger’s attorneys sought to withhold approval of the sale, scheduled for today, until Lehman Brothers “disclosed financial details necessary to the transaction’s fairness,” according to Harbinger’s motion. Harbinger officials acknowledged that they understood the “emergency nature” of the sale but also noted in the filing that “given the complete absence of a factual record to justify the requested relief, (the firm) must object to the sale motion.”
Lehman Brothers Special Situations Financing Inc., a subsidiary of Lehman’s non-debtor registered broker-dealer Lehman Brothers Inc., owes at least $250 million to Harbinger Capital Partners Special Situations Fund LP and Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I Ltd., according to court documents. Both funds are counterparties and creditors of the Lehman-owned unit as part of swap agreements between the two firms, and Harbinger’s attorneys argued that Lehman Brothers Holdings is ultimately responsible for guaranteeing the debt.
Judge James Peck was scheduled to decide this afternoon whether to approve Barclays acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ North American business. The decision was not made by press time.
