Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has made an offer to purchase the mortgage division and loan portfolio of Ally Financial's subsidiary Residential Capital (ResCap).
The Associated Press reports that Berkshire Hathaway filed papers with the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York to acquire ResCap, stating it would offer Ally more favorable terms than those offered by Fortress Investment Group. Fortress reached a deal with Ally last month, after the Detroit-based Ally filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its failing ResCap unit.
This is the latest attempt by Buffett's company to gain control of ResCap. According to a Bloomberg News article, Ally reportedly gave the billionaire investor the thumbs-down when he sought to buy ResCap prior to its bankruptcy filing. Buffett's interest in ResCap, according to the Bloomberg report, was to avoid a bankruptcy filing because Berkshire Hathaway had unsecured debt in ResCap.
As part of its latest endeavor, Berkshire Hathaway is seeking to have the court replace Fortress as the ‘stalking horse,’ or initial bidder, for ResCap's assets.