A quirky story popped on Bloomberg on Friday, according to which Lehman Brothers Holdings has negotiated the return of stacks of Lehman tokens that were – ah – “mistakenly” transferred to Barclay’s:
Tote bags, umbrellas, stress balls, Tiffany paperweights and other items now stored in closets and warehouses from New York to Chicago will be returned to Lehman and sold to pay creditors, according to a court filing yesterday.
As part of the arrangement, Lehman is barred from trying to sell the objects to Barclays’ employees, according to court papers. The investment bank may need a liquidator to move the logoed goods, which would fetch “a discount to their intrinsic value,” said Richard Kaye, chief marketing officer at Hilco Trading, which values and sells assets for companies, in a phone interview.
“A golf ball plays the same way no matter what it says on it,” said Kaye, who might offer Hilco’s services to Lehman, he said. “But does someone want to walk around with a logoed Lehman umbrella?”
For the record, FT Alphaville would not object to a Lehman umbrella, although we’d prefer the cufflinks:
Items in storage include: 1,630 green canvas duffle bags with Lehman ribbon, 353 green compact golf umbrellas, 75 Waterford Marquis Treviso crystal clocks, 682 white Lehman coffee mugs, 130 Swiss Army pens, an English beechwood-lined sterling silver box from 1902, 200 Lehman conference pens, 12 pairs of Links of London cufflinks, 24 Screwpull wine openers inscribed “LB,’ 24 Titleist PRO VI golf balls inscribed ‘‘LB,” 30 girl Teddy Bears, 18 large, ivory womens’ F&G stretch snap shirts and one Tiffany shooting star.
Keep an eye on eBay, then.
Related links:
And the winner of the silver Lehman cube is… - FT Alphaville