Blackstone Group’s chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman has praised Barclays for its acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ US capital markets businesses branding the move “one heck of a smart deal”.

Speaking at the 2008 Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conference in New York, Schwarzman told a packed room of delegates that Barclays’ acquisition of the core Lehman business was “terrific” and was “a great strategy for Barclays” which “makes them more robust”.