NEW YORK, Sept 20: A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a revised version of British bank Barclays Plc’s deal to purchase the core U.S. business of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

In a Manhattan court hearing that started on Friday and

lasted past midnight, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck approved the sale, saying he had found no better alternative for the assets Lehman sought to sell.

“This week more than any other week since I was appointed to the bench I have felt the awesome power of this job,” Peck told a packed Manhattan court room, at the end of a nearly seven-hour hearing.

“I have to approve this transaction because it is the only available transaction,” he said.Earlier this week, Barclays agreed to buy Lehman’s North

American investment banking and capital markets businesses for about $1.75 billion after Lehman filed the largest U.S. bankruptcy case in history.

The deal was modified slightly in court on Friday, as lawyers for Lehman said the company’s trading accounts had shrunk and appraisals for its property values, including Lehman’s New York headquarters, had been less-than-expected.

The deal will save up to 10,000 jobs at Lehman Brothers U.S. unit, provide cash to fund operations while the rest of the company unwinds, and plans were underway to transfer customer accounts over the weekend.

Barclays has also said it could purchase more Lehman assets in other regions.

Lehman collapsed under the weight of toxic assets, mainly related to real estate, that are now worth only a fraction of their original price.

The Lehman bankruptcy case is unprecedented in U.S. courts.

With more than $600 billion in pre-petition assets, it dwarfs the second-largest U.S. bankruptcy, WorldCom, whose 2002 bankruptcy had assets over $100 billion.

Peck said the case, in which the company’s core assets were sold in less than a week, should not be viewed as a precedent for other Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, which typically proceed in a slower, more methodical fashion.—Reuters