Lehman administrator set to give creditors $11bn in assets
LEHMAN Brothers’ administrator has issued a proposal to return $11bn (£6.6bn) in assets to creditors.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – administrator for Lehman Brothers International Europe – made the move after an earlier plan was rejected by a London court.
The assets would be returned to creditors in the company’s international arm rather than its US operation, under the latest plan.
PwC said Lehman Brothers International had about $35bn in hedge fund assets frozen when it failed and that $13.3bn has been returned. The proposed “Claim Resolution Agreement” will be implemented if 90 per cent or more of the affected clients support it.
Joint administrator Stephen Pearson at PwC urged clients to vote in favour of the proposals so that the affected hedge funds will be able to reimburse their investors.
He said: “If this proposal fails it is likely that it could take years to ultimately return all client assets. I am appealing to all affected clients to give their support to these proposals.”
Clients will have until 29 December to vote and PwC hopes to start returning assets by around the end of March.