Barclays re-enters talks with firm, eyeing assets

Barclays Plc, the United Kingdom's third-biggest bank, is in talks to buy assets from bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc two days after abandoning plans to acquire the entire securities firm.

Barclays is weighing a bid for Lehman's broker-dealer unit to increase its US securities revenue, three people familiar with the situation said. The London-based bank would take over licenses, buildings and as many as 10,000 people who trade and underwrite securities and advise on acquisitions, said a person who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. Barclays fell as much as 9.4 percent yesterday in London trading.

Lehman is selling off pieces of itself, including the brokerage and asset-management units, that weren't included on Monday when the holding company filed the biggest Chapter 11 bankruptcy in history. Barclays President Robert Diamond said last month he wants the bank to take market share from Wall Street firms weakened by the credit crunch and break into the top tier" of US securities firms.