Zell’s Archstone bid blocked

Equity Residential’s purchase of a stake in apartment builder Archstone was blocked by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings, as Lehman exercised the option to match the bid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Equity, run by Sam Zell, offered $1.33 billion for 26.5 percent of Archstone, a major competitor of Equity’s. Lehman’s purchase is half of the position in Archstone owned by Bank of America and Barclays and brings its total stake in Archstone to 73.5 percent.  Lehman’s advisors expect Equity to put in an offer for the final 26.5 percent stake as well, according to the Journal, and are preparing to block that, too. [WSJ]