Faced with continuing deterioration in the commercial real estate market, Capmark Financial Group proceeded to file for bankruptcy protection as it warned it might last month.

One of the nation’s largest commercial real estate lenders, Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Capmark listed total debt of $21 billion and assets of $20.1 billion in its Chapter 11 filing over the weekend.

While numerous affiliates were included in the bankruptcy filing, Capmark Bank was not one of them. The company said the bank will continue to operate normally as the parent company seeks to restructure its debt. The bank received a $600 million capital injection from its parent last month.

“We view this reorganization process as an unfortunate but necessary response to recent unprecedented conditions in financial and commercial real estate markets, which presented a significant challenge for Capmark and similarly situated finance companies,” CEO Jay Levine said in a statement. “By constraining the availability of capital, these difficult market conditions had a negative effect on all our core businesses.”

Capmark had more than $10 billion in mortgage originations and services more than $360 billion of debt. The company was formerly known as GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. and was spun off in a 2006 buyout that left Goldman Sachs and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, among others, as major stakeholders.

Last month, Capmark posted a $1.6 billion loss for the quarter and set aside $345.8 million to cover loan losses. It also agreed to an option to sell its North American servicing and mortgage businesses to a joint venture of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corp., and will receive up to $490 million if the option is exercised.

As of Friday, Capmark and the affiliates included in the filing had more than $500 million of cash and cash equivalents available – enough to allow it to pay vendors and continue salaries and benefits for employees.

“The Chapter 11 process will give Capmark the opportunity to restructure our balance sheet while continuing to focus on maximizing value for our principal stakeholders,” Mohsin Meghji, chief restructuring officer, said in a statement.