Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Leucadia National Corp. closed their $468 million purchase Friday of the servicing and mortgage business of the bankrupt Capmark Financial Group Inc.
Their venture, called Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, will hire more than 1,000 of Horsham, Pa.-based Capmark's 1,500 employees, the newly formed company said. Michael Lipson, a Capmark executive since 1996, was named president of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage.
Buffett, who oversees businesses ranging from insurance to energy production, is investing Berkshire's cash in assets hobbled by the property market decline. Berkadia beat out an affiliate of PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in bidding for the Capmark assets.
Capmark was one of the largest U.S. commercial real estate finance companies, with more than $10 billion of originations, according to Moody's Investors Service.
