By The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. – Warren Buffett’s company has lined up an US$8-billion loan to help pay for its $26.3-billion acquisition of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday that it signed the financing deal with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Wednesday. Buffett has said Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, plans to borrow half of the $16 billion cash needed for the deal, and pay back the loan over three years. Berkshire has agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock for all the Burlington Northern shares it doesn’t own. Berkshire holds a 23 per cent stake in the railroad, which is based in Ft. Worth, Texas. The deal is expected to be completed early next year if shareholders and regulators approve. – On the Net: Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: www.berkshirehathaway.com Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.: www.bnsf.com Read the original here: Berkshire lines up US$8B loan to help pay for acquisition of BNSF railroad
Buffett’s Berkshire secures $8B loan for BNSF deal (AP)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company has lined up an $8 billion loan to help pay for its $26.3 billion acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday that it signed the financing deal with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Wednesday. Buffett has said Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, plans to borrow half of the $16 billion cash needed for the deal, and pay back the loan over three years. Berkshire has agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock for all the Burlington Northern shares it doesn’t own. Berkshire holds a 23 percent stake in the railroad, which is based in Ft. Worth, Texas. The deal is expected to be completed early next year if shareholders and regulators approve. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.: http://www.bnsf.com Read more: Buffett’s Berkshire secures $8B loan for BNSF deal (AP)
Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake, cuts holdings in ConocoPhillips
By The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. – Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company bought a nearly US$60-million stake in Exxon Mobil Corp., trimmed holdings in oil rival ConocoPhillips and nearly doubled its stake in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. during the latest quarter. Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed the changes to its $59.7-billion U.S. stock portfolio in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. During the quarter ended Sept. 30, Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 855,000 shares of Exxon Mobil. Its stake in ConocoPhillips was cut from more than 64 million shares at the end of June to more than 57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Wal-Mart, valued at $1.65 billion, stood at 33.6 million shares at the end of September, up from nearly 20 million at the end of June. A separate filing Monday by the Seattle-based Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation showed it raised its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to more than 1.6 million class B shares, worth $3,431 apiece, from 1.25 million. Those shares are to be split 50-to-1 under Berkshire Hathaway’s Nov. 3 deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the second-largest railroad in the United States. Berkshire has agreed to pay $26.3 billion in cash and stock for the 77.4 per cent of the company it doesn’t now own, valuing the entire company at $34 billion. Buffett has been a key donor to the Gates Foundation, with plans to give 10 million class B shares in a series of annual gifts. Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.’s co-founder, is a friend and philanthropic ally of Buffett. Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation changed holdings of several other stocks between June 30 and Sept. 30, including: -Increasing its stake in McDonald’s Corp. to 7.4 million shares from 6.9 million; -Boosting its stake in Coca-Cola Co. to 6.9 million shares from 5.7 million; -Raising its ownership of trash hauler Waste Management Inc. to 15.7 million shares from 7.8 million; -Cutting its stake in shoe maker Crocs Inc. to 668,000 shares from three million. Another filing Monday shows financier George Soros’ company, Soros Fund Management LLC, increased his stake in Berkshire Hathaway to 10 class A shares – valued at around $103,000 apiece – from the previous four. Soros also acquired 200 class B shares. Berkshire’s holdings reports are closely followed because of Buffett’s legendary reputation as a savvy investor able to spot stock market bargains and then sell holdings that get overpriced. One holding that disappeared from Hathaway’s portfolio in the latest quarter was industrial equipment maker Eaton Corp. Hathaway had held two million shares of Eaton three months earlier, after selling 1.2 million shares in the previous quarter. The filing does not differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of its subsidiaries make, or investments Buffett himself makes. The filing also says Berkshire has received permission from the SEC to omit some information to protect its trading strategy, so the document offers an incomplete picture of the company’s investments. Berkshire regularly asks the SEC for the ability not to immediately disclose its holdings when it is making significant changes in an investment. Berkshire says the information could hurt its trading strategy because the market likes to follow what the “Oracle of Omaha’s” company does. In addition to its investments, Berkshire owns dozens of operating companies across a wide range of industries. Follow this link: Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake, cuts holdings in ConocoPhillips
Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake (AP)
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company bought a nearly $60 million stake in Exxon Mobil Corp., and cut its holdings in oil rival ConocoPhillips during the third quarter. {”s” : “bni,brk-b,cop,msft,wmt,xom”,”k” : “c10,l10,p20,t10″,”o” : “”,”j” : “”} Berkshire Hathaway Inc. also significantly increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the three months ended Sept. 30. Omaha-based Berkshire disclosed the changes to its $59.7 billion U.S. stock portfolio in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. During the quarter, Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 855,000 shares of Exxon Mobil. Its stake in ConocoPhillips was cut from more than 64 million shares at the end of June to more than 57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Wal-Mart, valued at $1.65 billion, stood at 33.6 million shares at the end of September, up from nearly 20 million at the end of June. A separate filing Monday by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation showed it raised its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to more than 1.6 million Class B shares, worth $3,431 apiece, from 1.25 million. Those shares are to be split 50-to-1 under Berkshire’s Nov. 3 deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the nation’s second-largest railroad. Berkshire has agreed to pay $26.3 billion in cash and stock for the 77.4 percent of the company it doesn’t now own, valuing the entire company at $34 billion. Buffett has been a key donor to the Gates Foundation, with plans to give 10 million B shares in a series of annual gifts. Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.’s co-founder, is a friend and philanthropic ally of Buffett. Another filing Monday shows financier George Soros’ company, Soros Fund Management LLC, increased its stake in Berkshire to 10 Class A shares — valued at around $103,000 apiece — from the previous four. Soros also acquired 200 Class B shares. Berkshire’s holdings reports are closely followed because of Buffett’s legendary reputation as a savvy investor able to spot stock market bargains and then sell holdings that get overpriced. The filing does not differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of its subsidiaries make, or investments Buffett himself makes. In addition to its investments, Berkshire owns dozens of operating companies across a wide range of industries. See the original post: Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake (AP)
Warren Buffett: The financial panic is over (Reuters)
By Jonathan Stempel and Clare Baldwin Reuters – Investor Warren Buffett (R) whispers to Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates (L) as the two appear together for … {”s” : “bni,brk-a,msft”,”k” : “c10,l10,p20,t10″,”o” : “”,”j” : “”} NEW YORK (Reuters) – Warren Buffett, perhaps the world’s most admired investor, said on Thursday the financial panic that gripped the globe last year is a thing of the past, even as the U.S. economy’s struggles persist. “The financial panic is behind us,” the world’s second-richest person said at Columbia University’s business school. “Our economy was sputtering, still is sputtering some.” Buffett, 79, nevertheless said there is greater opportunity for investments inside the United States than outside, noting that the U.S. economy is far larger than any other. He appeared at Columbia with Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS: MSFT – News ) founder Bill Gates, the world’s richest person and a Buffett friend and bridge partner. Last month, preliminary government data showed the U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter, the first three-month period of growth since the second quarter of 2008. Nonetheless, the U.S. unemployment rate last month reached 10.2 percent, the first double-digit reading in 26 years. Buffett last week made a big bet on the U.S. economy when his Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A – News ; NYSE: BRK-B – News ) agreed to pay about $26.4 billion for the 77 percent of railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (NYSE: BNI – News ) that it did not already own. “There will be more people in this country, 10, 20, 30 years from now,” Buffett said. “They’ll be moving more and more goods back and forth to each other and the most environmentally friendly and cost-efficient way of doing that is railroads.” Buffett said rail transport uses one-third less fuel and pollutes the air less than trucks, and that one train can supplant about 280 trucks. Gates, who is also a Berkshire director, said other sectors might also boost the economy over the long term, including information technology, energy and medicine. Separately, Buffett advised the U.S. government not to coddle companies that need bailouts to survive or preserve capital. “More sticks are called for,” he said. Buffett gave Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner “high marks” for how they managed the financial crisis. The billionaire has praised Bernanke in the past, while mocking Geithner’s stress tests for banks. CNBC television was a host for the Columbia event. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Bernard Orr) More: Warren Buffett: The financial panic is over (Reuters)