Lehman In Talks To Sell Mortgage Assets

August 1, 2008 6:29 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Lehman Brothers is in talks to sell upwards of $30 billion in mortgage related assets, according to reports on Friday.

According to a New York Post report, Lehman is in preliminary talks with prospective buyers to unload some $30 billion in commercial mortgage assets and other hard-to-value securities off their balance sheet. These assets could be sold to a domestic or foreign entity; word is Lehman may provide funding to complete a sale.

CNBC reported that BlackRock Inc. is discussing a possible transaction with the investment banker for a portion of their collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

The news comes on the heels of a recent Merrill Lynch announcement that they were selling $30 billion in CDOs to Lone Star Funds for 22 cents on the dollar.

The investment banks have taken massive write-downs and sought to sell off faulting debt in the first half of the 2008 as the sector continues to battle the credit crisis.