UPDATE 1-Capmark in Berkshire asset deal, may go bankrupt
* Berkshire, Leucadia to pay up to $490 million
* Capmark may file Chapter 11 bankruptcy
* Capmark has $1.62 bln quarterly loss
* Second Berkshire purchase announced in two days
NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) and Leucadia National Corp (LUK.N) agreed to buy Capmark Financial Group Inc's mortgage loan and servicing business for as much as $490 million, increasing exposure to a possible U.S. housing recovery.
Capmark also said it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after soured loans left it with a $1.62 billion second-quarter loss. It said stockholders had negative equity of $1.14 billion as of June 30.
According to a May 5 report by Moody's Investors Service, Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Capmark is one of the largest U.S. commercial real estate finance companies, with more than $10 billion of originations in 2008 and a servicing portfolio exceeding $360 billion.
In a statement, Capmark said it paid a Berkshire-Leucadia joint venture, Berkadia III LLC, $40 million to enter the mortgage asset sale agreement.
It said that if a sale occurs through the bankruptcy process, Berkadia will pay $415 million in cash and receive a $75 million note. If it occurs outside bankruptcy, Berkadia would pay $375 million in cash and get the $75 million note, and retain a $40 million "holdback" to cover indemnity claims.
Berkshire is adding real estate exposure following a three-year housing downturn that has shown some signs of easing. It is also the largest investor in Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), the nation's largest mortgage lender.
On Tuesday, Berkshire's real estate brokerage, HomeServices of America Inc, said it bought the Chicago-based agency Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate from a unit of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO) for an undisclosed price.
Berkshire spent about $6.27 billion on acquisitions in the year-and-a-half ended June 30, 2009. Buffett prefers to acquire companies with easy-to-understand businesses, consistent earnings power, strong management and little or no debt.
Since 1965, Buffett has built Omaha-based Berkshire into a conglomerate with close to 80 businesses that sell such things as car insurance, ice cream, paint and underwear, and more than $112 billion of investments. Leucadia, based in New York, has investments in several industries.
Berkshire Class A shares closed Wednesday down $400 at $98,200 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
