According to the firm's third-quarter financial report, REI plans to hold onto the assets to maximize shareholder value and not sell them based on pressure in a volatile market. However, REI will sell some properties if they provide favorable returns.
"REI Global will not be forced to sell assets below what it perceives their intrinsic value," said Ian Lowitt, Lehman's CFO, during the firm's earnings call.
Though the new entity will be a long-term holder of commercial real estate, Lowitt said during the call this morning that he does not expect it to be structured as a REIT.
GlobeSt.com reported last month that Lehman was in talks to spin off its commercial real estate portfolio. Reports at that time said Lehman could sell off the portfolio to BlackRock Inc., Blackstone Group or other firms.
Lehman posted a Q2 loss of $3.9 billion, primarily due to write downs on commercial and residential mortgages as well as its commercial assets.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
