AvalonBay and Equity Residential Buy Archstone Assets, Barclays’ Warrants: Financial Business Report

In a Monday release, AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) and Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) reported that they have jointly agreed with Lehman Brothers Holdings to purchase the assets and liabilities of Archstone Enterprise, which consist mainly in high quality apartment communities in major domestic markets, for a total of about $16 billion. Through the terms, AvalonBay will buy about 40 percent of the assets and liabilities, with Equity Residential obtaining the remainder. The transaction should close during the first quarter of next year.

Qatar Holding has divested the remainder of the Barclays (NYSE:BCS) warrants it purchased during the financial crisis, igniting a £740 million, or $1.19 billion, stock offering by the banks that conducted the transaction. A term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News says that Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) and Goldman Sachs Group sold as many as 303.3 million shares in Barclays to money managers for 244 pence apiece, which marks the low end of the 244 pence to 248 pence range that was employed to gauge investor interest in the stock.

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