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Data Centers Crucial To Lehman Sale

Posted by kdawson on from the gilt-edged dept.

miller60 writes "What assets retain value in the midst of a financial panic? Data centers. When assets of bankrupt Lehman Brothers were sold to Barclays Tuesday for $1.75 billion, Lehman's data centers and headquarters accounted for $1.5 billion of the value in the deal. That echoes the JPMorgan-Bear Stearns fire sale, in which Bear's two data centers and HQ represented much of the sale price. Amidst financial turmoil, Wall Street's high-tech data centers become the crown jewels for buyers of distressed assets."

4 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Asset valuation programmer seeks job by tjstork · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hi! I'm a programmer for Lehman brothers and I'm looking for work. I was the designer of Assett Manager 1.0, a powerful tool that allowed our brokers to get values of our contracts....it's not a bad program, but it had a couple of bugs in it that I would like to have fixed.

    --
    This is my sig.
    1. Re:Asset valuation programmer seeks job by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Take the infamous NINJA loan: No Income, No Job, No Assets. That is, you're given a mortgage based on nothing but good looks and your credit score. Nothing else is verified.

      The big problem with the NINJA loans was that the interest rates given on them did not reflect the risk. Typically NINJA loans were made with just a 1-2% premium over standard loans. They should have been assigned a Phenomenally Increased rate (at least a 5% premium), or PIRATE -- which would have held them in check.

      However, because the NINJAs were allowed to go unchecked, we still have a dearth of PIRATES, and thus heavy global warming in addition to the credit crunch.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  2. Re:Suprising? by AndersOSU · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know what else retains value in the midst of a financial panic? Skyscrapers.

    That's true... Unless there's a real estate crisis coincident with the financial panic.

    Sure, a sky scraper isn't going to lose all it's value, but it could be worth less than you paid for it - especially if companies are failing by the dozen and your prospects for new tenants aren't good.

    Also from the irony department: Lehman didn't own it's London offices, and the rent Lehman paid for the space was 15% of the landlords total income. The landlord, thinking ahead carried insurance to protect against the eventuality that one of their major tenants would vacate. Their insurance company: AIG.

  3. but by toby · · Score: 4, Funny

    People are born with compassion and empathy circuits in our brain for a reason, and those that don't have them or can't use them are seriously handicapped.

    ...But will probably get elected anyway. :(

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    you had me at #!