by Calculated Risk on 9/14/2008 01:08:00 PM

Bloomberg: Barclays Withdraws From Lehman Talks Over Credit Guarantees

NY Times headline: Barclays Says It Has Walked Away From Talks With Lehman

From the Telegraph: Barclays walks away from deal to rescue Lehman Brothers (hat tip energyecon)

British banking giant Barclays has decided to walk away from talks to buy some or all of troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Barclays, whose negotiating team is led by Barclays Capital chief Bob Diamond, is in the process of informing Lehman and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that it no longer wants to take part in the discussions because of the US government's unwillingness to guarantee Lehman's assets.

Although Barclays is understood to be happy that the New York Fed was leading discussions for Lehman's $41.8bn of property assets to be ring-fenced, it is unhappy with the fact that its balance sheet would still be on the block for all the remaining counter-party and other risks within Lehman.
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The surprise decision leaves a consortium led by Bank of America as the only potential buyer for Lehman ...