Lehman Bankruptcy Over, Creditor Payback Starts in April

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the remnants of the once-mighty investment bank whose collapse sparked a global credit crunch, emerged from its $639 bankruptcy Tuesday with a promise to begin paying creditors next month, Reuters said.

The company, which filed for protection from its creditors on Sept. 15, 2008, will begin repaying creditors roughly $65 billion on April 17.

During bankruptcy court proceedings those creditors asserted claims for more than $300 billion.

In December, Bankruptcy Judge James Peck, of the Southern District of New York, approved Lehman's creditor payback plan.

The initial distributions will go to record holders of allowed claims as of March 18, 2012.

The company will continue to liquidate its holdings under a new board, Lehman said in a statement.

We are proud to announce Lehman's exit from chapter 11 and entrance into the final stage of this process -- distributions to creditors, John Suckow, Lehman's President and COO and a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, which has been overseeing the restructuring, said in a statement.

Our objective remains to provide the best results possible for creditors -- by continuing to strategically position assets to produce strong values, to pursue the resolution of disputed claims and other matters in litigation, and to manage expenses in line with the asset disposition process.