Lehman Brothers Financial SA (LEHNQ)

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AvalonBay, Equity Residential to buy Archstone for $6.5B. AvalonBay (AVB) and Equity Residential (EQR) have joined together to acquire apartment owner Archstone Enterprise from Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ.PK) for $6.5B, plus $9.5B in debt. AvalonBay will get about 40% of the assets and liabilities, and Equity Residential - which tried to gain control of Archstone earlier this year - the rest. Both companies are commencing stock offerings to fund the deal.