Berkshire becomes Heinz's top owner ahead of Kraft merger (Reuters UK)
H.J. Heinz Co said on Thursday that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has become its majority shareholder by exercising a warrant ahead of the ketchup maker's planned merger with Kraft Foods Group Inc.
In a regulatory filing, Heinz said Berkshire exercised a warrant to acquire about 46.2 million shares for nearly $462,000 this week.
Heinz said the shares represent about 5.4 percent of its outstanding common stock, and that their issuance gives Berkshire a 52.5 percent overall stake.
Warren Buffett plans $2 billion a year Australian spending spree (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mr Buffett, the head of investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, will use funds from a newly minted deal with Insurance Australia Group to build up equity stakes in other large Australian companies including at least one bank.
One of the globe's most astute investors over five decades, Mr Buffett said the deal announced on Tuesday would deliver a stream of Australian dollars which would be invested locally to avoid currency risk.
BNSF Charging Lower Rates for Most-Modern Crude-by-Rail Cars (Bloomberg)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, the largest U.S. crude-by-rail carrier, is offering lower rates to lug oil in cars that meet the latest federal specifications issued in May. That means the vast majority of cars riding the rails today, known as DOT-111 and CPC-1232, will cost more to haul.
The new rates are part of a plan by the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to push older cars off the tracks as regulators scrutinize the industry over a series of high-profile explosions. [...]
Fitch Publishes Report on Berkshire Hathaway's Recent Growth in Commercial Lines Insurance (Business Wire)
In a new special report, Fitch Ratings reviews the recent meaningful expansion by Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. into the U.S. commercial lines insurance market. [...]
BRK has also quietly expanded to become the 10th largest U.S. commercial lines insurer based on 2014 direct premium volume. Fitch's report explores the source of BRK's premium growth, recent underwriting experience of new business, and the sustainability and credit implications of this growth.
Business expansion over the past five years has been significant with commercial lines direct premium expanding by 125% to $5.6 billion through organic growth and targeted acquisitions. Workers compensation insurance has been a key driver of this growth and BRK is now the seventh largest U.S. writer based on 2014 direct written premiums.
Berkshire most exposed to asbestos losses (Business Insurance)
U.S. property/casualty insurers' asbestos reserves were deficient by $5 billion to $12 billion as of year-end 2014, with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. being most exposed, Fitch Ratings Inc. said in a report issued Tuesday. [...]
Berkshire Hathaway has the most asbestos reserves of all companies, with about $14 billion, according to the report. But it has assumed $12 billion of asbestos losses through reinsurance transactions, according to the report.
Berkshire Buying Opportunity (Morningstar)
We continue to be impressed by wide-moat-rated Berkshire Hathaway's ability to generate high-single-digit to double-digit growth in its book value per share, believing it will take some time before the firm finally succumbs to the impediments created by the sheer size and scale of its operations. [...]
With the company currently trading at 83% of our fair value estimate--which is at $252,500 per Class A share or $168 per Class B share--Berkshire is not only one of the best near-term opportunities in the financial-services sector, it's also priced at the best entry point we've seen in quite some time for long-term investors.
Charlie Munger Speech at USC - May 2007 (YouTube - 44 min video)
No time to watch the whole thing? Here's a link to a PDF of notes from the speech.
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