Lehman Sues Barclays, Bank of America Over Archstone Buy

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sued Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc for breach of contract after they agreed to sell a stake in apartment landlord Archstone to Sam Zell’s Equity Residential, Archstone’s “largest competitor,” according to court papers.

Lehman told the banks it would buy half of their stake in Archstone, its biggest real estate asset, for $1.33 billion, meeting a deadline to exercise its right to make the purchase, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday. The suit seeks to clarify the terms of Lehman’s right to buy the stake, to make the banks carry out their obligations under agreements in place, and to postpone deadlines for the purchase, Lehman said in the suit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.