NEW YORK -

A Lehman Brothers Holdings business unit reportedly filed a complaint in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan alleging that AmeriCredit undervalued termination payments for interest rate swap agreements related to auto-loan securitizations.

Bloomberg reported that Lehman Brothers Special Financing entered into swap agreements with trusts sponsored in 2005 and 2007 by AmeriCredit that issued $3.85 billion in notes, according to the complaint.

The company contends that when Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection, the swaps were terminated, and AmeriCredit did not calculate termination payments according to the terms of the agreement by not seeking bids from potential counterparties when interest rates were moving in Lehman’s favor, Bloomberg said, citing the complaint.

The complaint went on to show that AmeriCredit made early termination payments of $13 million. Lehman should have received $42.5 million, the complaint alleges. The lawsuit is seeking $13 million in interest from three swap agreements and other unspecified damages.

Auto Remarketing reached out to Caitlin DeYoung, a company spokesperson for AmeriCredit/GM Financial last week. She said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

The case is Lehman Brothers Special Financing versus AmeriCredit Financial Services, 112403, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.

General Motors, looking to bolster sales in the lower credit brackets and via leasing, acquired AmeriCredit back in October of 2010. The non-prime lender soon was renamed GM Financial. The deal was an all-cash transaction for about $3.5 billion.

The process to acquire AmeriCredit began in late July 2010. That’s when GM revealed its plans to acquire AmeriCredit to meet consumer demand for leasing and non-prime financing. This came on the success of the companies rolling out a non-prime program together in September 2009.

While GM became the non-prime lender’s parent company, the new company held onto its prior name of AmeriCredit, as well, to continue to serve the dealers it already worked with in addition to serving like a captive for GM. Previously, the company had worked more heavily with independent dealers rather than franchised.

To view the Bloomberg report, visit www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-15/lehman-unit-sues-americredit-over-interest-rate-swap-deals-1-.html.