NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apartment building owner Archstone, whose $22 billion buyout in 2007 exemplified the excesses of the housing boom and helped bankrupt Lehman Brothers, is coming back to the market.

According to sources familiar with the situation, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) started recently to consider alternatives for Archstone, including an outright sale, selling it in pieces by buildings or markets, or doing an initial public offering, the sources said.

The move comes at a time when the market for apartment real estate has strengthened. Values have recovered and rents are trending higher, as more people turn away from home buying. Building prices, especially in the areas where many of Archstone’s properties are located, are reaching near-peak levels.

The shares of Archstone competitor Equity Residential (EQR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)closed at a record high on Tuesday of $61.83, up 65 percent this year. AvalonBay Communities Inc (AVB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares are the highest since 2007, having risen 62 percent this year to close at $133.07 on Tuesday.

Bank of America and Barclays converted their debt into $4.8 billion of equity in Archstone last year and together hold a 47 percent stake. Lehman also has a 47 percent stake.

The move would enable the banks, which made loans to Lehman and Tishman Speyer in 2007 to buy Archstone, to finally recover some of money. Lehman, which filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, has always said it intended to “monetize” the assets and will use the funds to help pay back creditors.

A Lehman spokeswoman and Barclays declined to comment. Bank of America was not immediately available for comment.

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) – Ocwen Financial Corp (OCN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is in the lead in an auction to buy Goldman Sachs Group’s (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) mortgage servicing unit, Litton Loan Servicing, sources familiar with the situation said this week.

A deal, however, has not been reached yet, so talks could still fall apart.

Litton could fetch up to $500 million or so in the auction, sources said last month. At the time these sources said Goldman was also offering 85 percent financing for the deal, which would be used to finance roughly $2.5 billion of “advances.”

Companies like Litton, which collect mortgage payments from borrowers and foreclose on properties, make advances to mortgage owners when a loan goes bad, to cover things like principal and interest payments.

Goldman and Ocwen, also a mortgage servicer, declined to comment.

Goldman took a $220 million writedown related to the Litton business during the first quarter. The bank said at the time Litton’s carrying value was impaired and that it planned to sell the business within a year.

Ocwen’s shares were off 0.9 percent at $11.70, while Goldman was of 0.6 percent at $138.50 during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Steve Orlofsky)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group Inc and IntercontinentalExchange withdrew their hostile $11 billion (6 billion pounds) bid for rival NYSE Euronext on Monday, saying it became clear they would not win U.S. antitrust approval.

The withdrawal of the offer removes one major hurdle to NYSE Euronext’s plans to sell itself to Deutsche Boerse AG for $10.2 billion.

That deal must still win regulatory and shareholder approval in Europe and the United States.

“To me, it’s a clear signal that Deutsche Boerse’s offer will go ahead,” said fund manager Juergen Meyer of SEB Asset Management, which owns Deutsche Boerse shares. “That’s what I’m expecting, actually.”

NYSE shares fell 10.5 percent, while Deutsche Boerse rose 4.2 percent after news of the Nasdaq-ICE decision. Nasdaq was up 1.9 percent and ICE was up 6 percent.

Other deals in a global exchanges consolidation frenzy have also run into trouble over nationalistic or regulatory concerns.

In a statement, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said his company was “surprised and disappointed” with the decision by U.S. Justice Department antitrust regulators.

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) withdrew their hostile $11 billion bid for rival NYSE Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Monday, saying it became clear they would not win U.S. antitrust approval.

The withdrawal of the offer removes one major hurdle to NYSE Euronext’s plans to sell itself to Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $10.2 billion.

That deal must still win regulatory and shareholder approval in Europe and the United States.

“To me, it’s a clear signal that Deutsche Boerse’s offer will go ahead,” said fund manager Juergen Meyer of SEB Asset Management, which owns Deutsche Boerse shares. “That’s what I’m expecting, actually.”

NYSE shares fell 10.5 percent, while Deutsche Boerse rose 4.2 percent after news of the Nasdaq-ICE decision. Nasdaq was up 1.9 percent and ICE was up 6 percent.

Other deals in a global exchanges consolidation frenzy have also run into trouble over nationalistic or regulatory concerns.

In a statement, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said his company was “surprised and disappointed” with the decision by U.S. Justice Department antitrust regulators.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group Inc and IntercontinentalExchange withdrew their hostile $11 billion bid for rival NYSE Euronext on Monday, saying it became clear they would not win U.S. antitrust approval.

The withdrawal of the offer removes one major hurdle to NYSE Euronext’s plans to sell itself to Deutsche Boerse AG for $10.2 billion.

That deal must still win regulatory and shareholder approval in Europe and the United States.

“To me, it’s a clear signal that Deutsche Boerse’s offer will go ahead,” said fund manager Juergen Meyer of SEB Asset Management, which owns Deutsche Boerse shares. “That’s what I’m expecting, actually.”

NYSE shares fell 10.5 percent, while Deutsche Boerse rose 4.2 percent after news of the Nasdaq-ICE decision. Nasdaq was up 1.9 percent and ICE was up 6 percent.

Other deals in a global exchanges consolidation frenzy have also run into trouble over nationalistic or regulatory concerns.

In a statement, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said his company was “surprised and disappointed” with the decision by U.S. Justice Department antitrust regulators.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has promised to give Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $6 billion in assets, services and cash as a break-up fee if U.S. regulators reject its proposed $39 billion purchase of the German company’s T-Mobile USA, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The $6 billion would include $3 billion of cash, as AT&T has previously disclosed, and about $2 billion worth of spectrum and a roaming agreement valued at $1 billion, according two sources who asked not to be named as those details were not public.

While the cash agreement is already unusually high at 7.7 percent of the total deal price, the addition of assets and services of a similar value would mean that the companies are breaking global records with a 15.4 percent break-up fee, according to Thomson Reuters Data.

The high fee underscores AT&T’s confidence that it can convince regulators to approve the deal, which is already being heavily criticized by many consumers and AT&T rivals including No. 3 U.S. mobile service Sprint Nextel (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The acquisition of T-Mobile USA, ranked No. 4, would make AT&T, currently the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, the leader of the U.S. market, enabling it to leapfrog bigger rival Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The deal needs approval from the U.S. telecommunications regulator, Federal Communications Commission, and the Department of Justice, which examines antitrust issues around mergers.

AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, had to defend the deal at a hearing held by skeptical lawmakers in Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters) – AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has promised to give Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $6 billion in assets, services and cash as a break-up fee if U.S. regulators reject its proposed $39 billion purchase of the German company’s T-Mobile USA, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The $6 billion would include $3 billion of cash, as AT&T has previously disclosed, and about $2 billion worth of spectrum and a roaming agremeent valued at $1 billion, according two sources who asked not to be named as those details were not public.

While the cash agreement is already unusually high at 7.7 percent of the total deal price, the addition of assets and services of a similar value would mean that the companies are breaking global records with a 15.4 percent break-up fee, according to Thomson Reuters Data.

The high fee underscores AT&T’s confidence that it can convince regulators to approve the deal, which is already being heavily criticized by many consumers and AT&T rivals including No. 3 U.S. mobile service Sprint Nextel (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The acquition of T-Mobile USA, ranked No. 4, would make AT&T, currently the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, the leader of the U.S. market, enabling it to leapfrog bigger rival Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The deal needs approval from the U.S. telecommunications regulator, Federal Communications Commission, and the Department of Justice, which examines antitrust issues around mergers.

AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, had to defend the deal at a hearing held by skeptical lawmakers in Capitol Hill on Wednesday. [ID:nN11230531] (Writing by Sinead Carew; editing by xxx)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc will take their takeover bid for NYSE Euronext straight to the Big Board’s shareholders as they try to corner the company into talks.

Nasdaq and ICE said on Monday that they will launch a tender offer for NYSE’s shares later this month. The move comes after NYSE’s board twice rejected the $11 billion unsolicited offer in favor of its existing $10.2 billion deal with Deutsche Boerse.

Nasdaq and ICE’s move to go hostile could force NYSE to the negotiating table or to fight back with defensive measures if shareholders step up pressure. It could also pressure Deutsche Boerse into sweetening its deal.

But it is unlikely to be the final word in what may be a lengthy takeover battle.

NYSE could still sit tight. The gap between Nasdaq-ICE and Deutsche Boerse bids — a key shareholder concern — has narrowed to 8 percent from nearly 20 percent in the last few weeks, thanks in part to a weaker U.S. dollar.

The Nasdaq-ICE exchange offer will also have conditions that could yet derail it.

“We believe the laundry list of conditions attached to the offer virtually guarantee that it will never be executed,” said Patrick O’Shaughnessy, an analyst at Raymond James.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As deal volume and CEO confidence picks up, companies are starting some daring fights, fearful that long-coveted assets will go to rivals.

Still, going hostile remains a last ditch approach for most companies, which struggle with the pros and cons of expending political and financial capital in a public fight that might fail.

“When companies realize a long coveted asset is in fact involved in a deal with someone else, they see it as an opportunity to get involved, even if they did not initiate the process themselves,” said Steven Koch, a vice chairman and co-chairman of Credit Suisse’s M&A Group, based in Chicago.

As industries consolidate, target choices become more scarce, causing buyers to become more daring and willing to take risks.

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc pulled the trigger on Monday, saying they would take their $11 billion bid for NYSE Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hostile — an expected move after the NYSE board twice rejected their offer in favor of one by Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Unsolicited and hostile deals are gaining more acceptance and have less negative connotations, dealmakers say, although they are still the last ditch approach when a friendly overture has failed.

Global deal volume year to date is up 55 percent when compared with the same period in 2010 and the amount of unsolicited approaches worldwide in value terms has also risen, although not at the same pace — up 36 percent to $45.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) – As deal volume and CEO confidence picks up, companies are starting some daring fights, fearful that long-coveted assets will go to rivals.

Still, going hostile remains a last ditch approach for most companies, which struggle with the pros and cons of expending political and financial capital in a public fight that might fail.

“When companies realize a long coveted asset is in fact involved in a deal with someone else, they see it as an opportunity to get involved, even if they did not initiate the process themselves,” said Steven Koch, a vice chairman and co-chairman of Credit Suisse’s M&A Group, based in Chicago.

As industries consolidate, target choices become more scarce, causing buyers to become more daring and willing to take risks.

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc pulled the trigger on Monday, saying they would take their $11 billion bid for NYSE Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hostile — an expected move after the NYSE board twice rejected their offer in favor of one by Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). [ID:nN02238254]

Unsolicited and hostile deals are gaining more acceptance and have less negative connotations, dealmakers say, although they are still the last ditch approach when a friendly overture has failed.

Global deal volume year to date is up 55 percent when compared with the same period in 2010 and the amount of unsolicited approaches worldwide in value terms has also risen, although not at the same pace — up 36 percent to $45.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.