Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Warren Buffett Way: $1 Billion in Three Months, No Effort (BRK.A, CEG)

Our first sentence the day the deal was announced?
Damn those Omaha boys move fast.
Our second CEG post that day explained:
A reader asks why we put "Bingo!" in our headline on the MidAm/CEG transaction. No, we didn't own CEG (you'd have had to be pretty nimble to own it so you could profit from the $26.50 price, it only traded below that for four hours in the last five years). Rather, the bingo was for the confirmation of the industry sector. Secondly, the group got a little pop on the news....
From the WSJ's Deal Journal:

Double your money in three months with little effort!

An ad for a get-rich quick scheme? No, more like a description of Warren Buffett’s latest financial coup.

In September, the Buffett-owned MidAmerican Energy Holdings agreed buy Constellation Energy and invest $1 billion to keep the Baltimore power producer from collapsing at the hands of brutal markets. Wednesday, Constellation jilted that $26.50-a-share takeover offer to accept a $4.5 billion bid from French power company Electricite de France for 50% of Constellation’s nuclear-generation assets.

EdF’s win may not be the best outcome for Buffett as a buyer, but for Buffett-as-investor it is none too shabby a return....MORE