UPDATE 1-Capmark servicing unit draws "significant" new bid

By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del., Nov 4 (Reuters) - A unit of Capmark Financial Group Inc has received a bid that "significantly" tops one by a Berkshire Hathaway Inc venture, an attorney for the bankrupt commercial property lender said on Wednesday. Capmark filed for bankruptcy last month with a plan to sell its mortgage and loan servicing portfolio, which it says is one of the world's largest, to a venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corp. The venture, known as Berkadia, provided an initial bid of $490 million. Michael Kessler of Dewey & LeBoeuf, which is representing Capmark, told a bankruptcy court hearing that a strategic buyer has emerged, prompting the company to move ahead with plans for an auction. "On Oct. 30, we did receive a very significant and interesting proposal from another bidder for significantly more money than Berkadia," Kessler said. He cautioned it was not an "apples to apples" proposal. Among the differences, the new bidder did not propose buying the entire business and did not propose taking on all the Capmark servicing employees. "Because of the significance of the proposal and the amount of the money involved it would be prudent to continue to negotiate," Kessler said. Capmark is one of the largest U.S. commercial real estate services companies, and one of the biggest victims of the rapidly declining commercial real estate market. The company filed for bankruptcy last month with $21.0 billion in liabilities and $20.1 billion in assets. The company provides loans for office buildings, hotels, multifamily housing and retail. It sells many of those loans it originates and retains servicing rights. An attorney for one company that depends on Capmark for loan servicing, Freddie Mac, told the hearing it was essential the servicing business be sold as one unit, complete with employees, to maintain the unit's value. Capmark services $60 billion in loans for Freddie Mac, and the company's attorney said Freddie Mac had the power to terminate the servicing rights if it did not approve of the buyer. The new interested party has until Nov. 20 to submit a proposal that qualifies as a final bid. If there is a bid in addition to Berkadia, an auction will be held on Nov. 23. Berkadia's offer requires the sale to close by year end. The case is in re: Capmark Financial Group, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-13684. (Reporting by Tom Hals: Editing by Tim Dobbyn) Keywords: CAPMARK/SERVICING ([e-mail]; 1-302-993-6283; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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