Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s office-building joint venture in Austin with Thomas Properties Group Inc. said it will run out of money by January unless it gets a $100 million loan from Lehman.
The bankrupt Lehman has a 50% indirect interest in TPG-Austin Portfolio Holdings LLC, which bought 10 office buildings from Blackstone Group LP last year for $1.2 billion, according to court documents. Lehman's commercial paper unit advanced $192.5 million to help the buyout, but it never disbursed a $100 million revolving loan it had pledged, TPG-Austin said.
"Without funds from the revolving loan, TPG-Austin and its affiliated entities will be unable to meet their obligations" and may have to seek bankruptcy protection, the venture said Thursday in court filings.
A $19 million property tax bill comes due in January, TPG-Austin said.
The venture asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan to make Lehman pay the money or allow it to seek alternate funds giving the new lender first claim on its assets.
A hearing on that request is scheduled for Dec. 3.
Lehman, based in New York, paid $221.3 million for a 75% equity stake in the venture last year and sold 25% of it, according to TPG-Austin.
