Warren Buffett’s new investment
The name which comes on top of the list when we talk about investments is surely Warren Buffet, Chief Executive Officer, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Public, NYSE:BRK.A). Warren Buffett’s firm said today that it will buy railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $44 billion.
The company, Berkshire Hathway already has 22.6% stake in Burlington Northern and it would acquire the remaining 77.4% in a cash and stock offer for $100 per share. Buffett called his firm’s investment an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.”
“Our country’s future prosperity depends on its having an efficient and well-maintained rail system,” Buffett said in a statement. After the news came, Burlington Northern shares rose 28% in the early hours of trading.
The deal is said to be largest in Berkshire Hathway’s acquisition history and it would also include Burlington Northern’s $10 billion debt. During the conference call with investors on Tuesday, Chairman and CEO of Burlington Northern- Mathew Rose said that the sale of the Fort Worth, Texas based firm was a “strategic fit” for both the company’s employees and customers. Rose also assured that there would be no management shakeup at Burlington Northern as a result of the deal, which will close sometime in early 2010.