Lehman Brothers auction raises cash for creditors
By DPA, IANSWednesday, September 29, 2010
LONDON - Artworks, door signs and other mementos from the London offices of collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers sold for 1.6 million pounds ($2.6 million) at an auction Wednesday in London.
The sign that adorned the company’s offices in London’s Canary Wharf was among the prize items, selling for 42,050 pounds, auction house Christie’s said.
A commemorative plaque marking the 2004 opening of the firm’s offices in London went for 28,750 pounds - far above an original upper estimate of 1,500 pounds.
In a twist of irony, the opening was attended by Gordon Brown, who was then Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, and who was prime minister at the height of the credit crisis when Lehman collapsed.
Among other items sold was a work by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, which went for 99,560 pounds, and Gary Hume’s Madonna, which realized 73,250 pounds.
The final result of 1.6 million pounds remained below the expected total of 2 million pounds.
More than 1,100 bidders signed up for the event, which was ordered by the firm’s administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in a bid to raise money for Lehman’s creditors.
The auction at Christie’s in London took place just days after the second anniversary of the bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, which triggered a global financial crisis.
