Ally Financial Inc. reportedly gave billionaire investor Warren Buffett the thumbs-down when he sought to buy the company's troubled Residential Capital (ResCap) mortgage unit.
Bloomberg News, citing ‘three people familiar with the matter,’ reports that former hedge-fund manager Ted Weschler negotiated on Buffett's behalf. As part of the offer, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. would have paid almost nothing up front for ResCap's assets, but would have taken on its potential liabilities. However, Ally turned down the offer and opted to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its unit.
Buffett's interest in ResCap, according to the Bloomberg report, was to avoid a bankruptcy filing because Berkshire Hathaway had unsecured debt in ResCap. Buffett's office did not respond to requests for comment on the Bloomberg article.