Berkshire Hathaway Interesting News

Warren Buffett Buys Bank of America Corp., Dow Jones

Warren Buffett buys Bank Of America Corp., Dow Jones & Co. Inc., sells H&R Block Inc., Pier 1 Imports Inc. during the 3-months ended 06/30/2007, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett owns 40 stocks with a total value of $61.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells. GuruFocus.com

---------------

Bel-Oro International and Aurafin to be Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway (May 18, 2007)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements pursuant to which it will acquire leading jewelry manufacturers Bel-Oro International and Aurafin LLC. Upon consummation of these acquisitions, the two companies will be combined into the newly formed Richline Group and it will continue to market to customers under multiple brands. Berkshire Website.

---------------

Berkshire Has Stakes In Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern (May 16, 2007)

Berkshire Hathaway said it owned 10.5 million shares of Union Pacific and nearly 6.4 million shares of Norfolk Southern as of March 31, 2007. WSJ.com.

---------------

Buffett Pays Top Market Price for Burlington Northern Stake (April 9, 2007)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought a 10.9 percent stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. to become the largest shareholder at a time when rail stocks were hovering close to their all-time highs. Berkshire had accumulated 39 million shares of the second- largest U.S. railroad as of April 5, paying between $81.18 and $81.80 for the final 1.6 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The market value of the Berkshire Hathaway's Burlington Northern stake is $3.2 billion, making it the company's seventh largest holding by market value following Coca-Cola Co., American Express Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Procter & Gamble Co., Moody's Corp. and PetroChina Co. Bloomberg.

---------------

Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire TTI, Inc. (Dec 22, 2006)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Berkshire Hathaway will acquire TTI, Inc., a privately held electronic component distributor headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. The acquisition will also include TTI’s subsidiary Mouser Electronics. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TTI operates in over 19 countries with over 50 branch locations. In addition, Mouser has recently completed a major facility expansion which has more than doubled its capacity. Berkshire Hathaway News Releases.

---------------

Berkshire boosts stakes in Lowe's (Nov 14, 2006)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. it raised its holdings in Lowe's Cos. and Nike Inc., but may have reduced its stakes in Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Target Co.

In a regulatory filing, Berkshire said it owned 7 million shares of Lowe's, the home improvement retailer, on Sept. 30, up from 390,000 on June 30. It also said it owned 4 million shares of footwear specialist Nike, up from 2.47 million.

Berkshire also reported a 36.4 million share stake in Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch, down from 43.5 million in June. It also reported a 745,700 share Target stake, compared with the 5.5 million shares in June. Reuters.

---------------

Warren Buffett is Buying Retailers; Bought Target (Oct 30, 2006)

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett had bought about 24.59 million shares in health-care company Johnson & Johnson, and 5.5 million shares in discount retailer Target Corp. during the second quarter, according to the amended filing of the Berkshire Hathaway.

In separate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Omaha-based Berkshire said the J&J stake was worth $1.47 billion as of June 30, while the Target stake was worth about $268.8 million. Berkshire started to buy J&J in the first quarter of this year. GuruFocus.com.

---------------

Berkshire Hathaway Takes On Equitas Risk For Up To $7B (Oct 20, 2006)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) is set to take on all the outstanding liabilities of London-based Equitas in a reinsurance deal worth up to $7 billion. BRK Website.

---------------

Converium sells N.America unit to Berkshire Hathaway (Oct 17, 2006)

Swiss reinsurer Converium sold its North-American unit to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for a total of $295 million. Reuters.

---------------

NetJets places US$1.1 billion aircraft order (Sept 26, 2006):

NetJets Europe said it agreed to buy 24 Falcon 7X jets from Dassault Aviation in a deal worth US$1.1 billion (€861 million). The order is the largest ever European contract to buy business planes. International Herald Tribune.

---------------

Buffett Triples Tesco Stake (Aug 16, 2006):

Bloomberg reported that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought at least 120.2 million shares of Tesco Plc in the second quarter, more than tripling its stake in the largest U.K. supermarket owner.

---------------

Berkshire Hathaway buying J&J and Sanofi-Aventis SA (Aug 14, 2006):

Bloomberg reported that Berkshire Hathaway Inc., bought 1.97 million shares of Johnson & Johnson and 488,500 shares of Paris-based Sanofi- Aventis SA, the world's third largest drugmaker.

---------------

Berkshire Increasing USG Corp stakes

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought an additional 82,900 shares of USG Corp. (USG), boosting its stake in the building-products company to about 15.9%. Easy bourse.

---------------

Berkshire Hathaway buying AARIS, ACCA for undisclosed sum (July 19, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to acquire two California workers' compensation firms: American All-Risk Insurance Services (AARIS) and American Commercial Claim Administrators (ACCA), which provide underwriting, operational, and claims- management services for California workers' comp insurers through a network of agents, will become a part of Berkshire subsidiary Columbia Insurance Co.

The transaction is expected to close in July. A purchase price wasn' t disclosed.
AARIS and ACCA are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Acacia Pacific Holdings. Lou Rovens, the founder and principal owner of the businesses, will continue to operate Acacia and its related non-workers compensation insurance activities, Berkshire explained.

---------------

Buffett's Berkshire Replaces AIG, Ace as U.S. Hurricanes Loom (June 6, 2006):

Important points from this Bloomberg article:

• Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's biggest casino company, is paying 50 percent more for property insurance because Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is one of its only options after last year's hurricanes.
• Buffett's prices are as much as 20 times higher than the rates prevalent a year ago.
• ``We will do more than anybody else if the price is right,'' Buffett.
• ``Every major account I've placed, those with half a billion dollars or more of coverage, had Berkshire involved,'' Bullock said. ``That was not the case prior to this year. They were not on any of those placements.''

---------------

Applied Underwriters (May 22, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Applied Underwriters (http://www.applieduw.com/), the industry leader in integrated workers' compensation solutions and all of its subsidiaries -- including its North American Casualty insurance companies.

---------------

Tesco Acquisition (May 17, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 57.6 million shares of Tesco, which is valued at $329 million. News from Forbes

---------------

ConocoPhillips Acquisition (May 15, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 17.9 million shares of ConocoPhillips, which is valued at $1.13 billion.

---------------

General Electric Co. Acquisition (May 15, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 7.8 million shares of General Electric Co., which is valued at $270.5 million.

---------------

United Parcel Service Acquisition (May 15, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway bought 1.4 million shares of United Parcel Service, which is valued at $113.5 million.

---------------

Iscar Metalworking Cos. Acquisition (May 5, 2006):

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to acquire 80% of Iscar Metalworking Cos. of Israel for $4 billion. The privately held firm will leave 20% of the company in the hands of the Wertheimer family, IMC's current shareholders and founders, and values the business at $5 billion, Berkshire Hathaway said in a written statement. News from Berkshire, MarketWatch and Haaretz

---------------

Russell Corp. Acquisition (April 18, 2006):

Warren Buffett agreed to buy the sporting goods maker for about $600 million. Russell's brands include Russell Athletic, Jerzees, Spalding, Brooks and Huffy. News from Reuters

---------------

Business Wire Acquisition (March 1, 2006)

Berkshire Hathaway announced it has successfully completed its acquisition of Business Wire, the leading global distributor of corporate news, multimedia and regulatory filings. News from Berkshire

---------------

Applied Underwriters Inc. Acquisition (Feb 8, 2006):

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced it has agreed to acquire Applied Underwriters and all of its subsidiaries, including its North American Casualty insurance companies.

---------------

My Family Fund owns a significant amount of Berkshire Hathaway, and keeping interesting acquisitions or events of Berkshire would be exciting. As Berkshire is in Lau Model Portfolio as well, I would gather Berkshire events on this blog page.

Please Read: Berkshire Hathaway Inc; BRK.A April 6, 2006

Please Read: Berkshire Hathaway; BRK.A Reasons I love Berkshire April 2006

Please Read: Archive of Dah Hui Lau's Blog

Happy Investing,

Dah Hui Lau (David)

dahhuilaudavid@gmail.com