Lehman-owned apartment giant Archstone files for IPO of up to $100 mln

Update : On February 27, 2013, Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities closed a $9 billion deal to acquire the company from Lehman Brothers.

• Expects to qualify as REIT
• Will list on NYSE under symbol "ASN"
• Citigroup and JP Morgan to underwrite IPO 

 (Reuters) - Archstone Inc, the apartment owner and developer owned by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, filed with U.S. regulators on Friday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.

Archstone has been cited as one as the primary causes behind Lehman's historic failure. Lehman and Tishman Speyer acquired publicly traded Archstone Smith, one of the largest owners of U.S. apartments, through a $23.7 billion leveragedbuyo ut in 2007. Lehman, Bank of America Corp (Symbol : BAC) and Barclays Plc (Symbol : BCS) provided $6.4 billion in secured financing with Lehman contributing 47 percent, or more than $3 billion. As real estate values fell and credit began to dry up, Archstone could not repay some of its loans. Its lenders ended up with the company in 2010, with Lehman owning 47.3 percent and the banks a combined 53 percent.