Thursday, September 20, 2007

Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Petrochina Stake Again

As a tangential follow up to yesterday's post on Mr. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway and Corporate Social Responsibility here are a couple snips from today's WSJ Online story:

...Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake to 8.93% from 9.07%, according to a filing by the U.S. company to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. It was the third time the Omaha company has publicly disclosed a sale of PetroChina shares over the past two months.

...In all three transactions, Berkshire Hathaway sent the share-sale disclosures by regular mail, which didn't arrive in Hong Kong until nearly two weeks after the sale took place. That arrangement is acceptable under Hong Kong's securities law, though the Securities and Futures Commission said after Berkshire Hathaway's second disclosure last week that it would review the rules and consider making electronic disclosure compulsory.

...Some activist shareholders have demanded that Berkshire divest itself of the PetroChina stock to protest its parent company's dealings in Sudan, where ethnic fighting has displaced millions in the Darfur region. Mr. Buffett rejected the request earlier this year.

I am amused by the snail-mail notification bit. I don't think I'd win playing poker or bridge with Mr. Buffett, whether table-stakes or no-limit.
(well especially no-limit)