Warren E. Buffett said on Wednesday that he was “salivating†to strike another big deal. But it appears that he'll settle for a $1.5 billion one for now.
His investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, successfully bid for a 47,000-loan portfolio held by Residential Capital, the bankrupt mortgage lender. The deal still requires approval by the federal judge overseeing the Chapter 11 case.
It was the second sale of assets by Residential Capital, known as ResCap, in as many days. On Wednesday, the lender announced that a duo led by Ocwen Financial had won the bidding for its loan-servicing platform with a $3 billion offer.
Berkshire had expressed interest in participating in that other transaction as well, though it did not make the final round of the auction.
ResCap, which filed for bankruptcy this year, has been seeking to sell off huge swaths of itself to pay off its creditors. The lender's Chapter 11 filing was also meant to help insulate the comp any's parent, Ally Financial, from the legal burdens that led to a $17 billion taxpayer-financed bailout.
