Buffett to buy out Burlington rail for $26 billion

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

• Discount UK Shopping

Related Articles

Disney quarterly results beat expectationsInvestors questioned Morgan Stanley's pay: ReportCharges added in Rajaratnam insider trading caseSingTel Q3 profit up 24 pct at $699 mn

New York: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc will pay $26 billion to buy out Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp in a bet the nation’s largest rail company will benefit from a recovering US economy.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, is the billionaire investor’s biggest-ever acquisition and may prompt him to sell some of his other investments, which include a wide range of companies from Coca-Cola Co to General Electric Co, some Buffett watchers said.

By betting on BNSF, Buffett—the world’s second-richest person and a long-time model train buff—renewed interest in a storied, but highly cyclical American industry that has tried to reinvent itself by emphasising its ability to move goods cheaply and efficiently. “It’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” Buffett, who has been building up his rail holdings for several years, said in a statement. “I love these bets.”

Buffett will pay a premium of 31.5% over BNSF’s closing stock price on Monday, valuing the railroad at $34 billion, or 18 times estimated 2010 earnings. Most rail companies’ P/E ratios are in the mid-teens. BNSF shares jumped 27.51% and other US and Canadian rail shares also rose, as analysts said the deal puts an oft-neglected industry in Wall Street’s focus and could bring some fresh money into the sector. But they did not expect a wave of deals in the railroad sector, given regulatory concerns.

“Buffett has always stated that he likes the longer-term viability of the rails ... but people really weren’t paying attention,” said Longbow Research analyst Lee Klaskow. “This is shining a spotlight on this group, bringing more investors into the fold.”

Buffett, who has long preferred all-cash deals, is paying $100 per share in cash and stock for the 77.4% of BNSF shares that Berkshire does not already own. Berkshire would also assume $10 billion of BNSF debt. It would pay about $16 billion in cash, of which $8 billion would be from its own funds and the rest from debt.