Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bloomberg Special Report: "Buffett Buys Burlington" BRK.A; BRK.B; BNI

I didn't link to Bloomberg yesterday during our Buffet-a-palooza. (Groovin' and Behoovin' at WBRK, All Berkshire, All the Time (Berkshire- Burlington Roundup) BRK.a; BNI)
That was deliberate.
Bloomberg was reporting news while I was looking to post some of the backround, instanalysis etc.
I was pretty sure the folks at Bloomberg would have something today, I mean their lead BRK/BNI story was updated five times!
This is such a big story, the only question was what hooks would they use to get at the myriad angles.
Lo and behold, they come slammin' home with this compilation:

Berkshire's Reduced Burlington Breakup Fee Shows Buffett Confident in Deal Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company that agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., accepted a lower-than-usual breakup fee in a sign Warren Buffett expects to complete his biggest takeover.

Buffett Takes 10 Days to Seal Biggest Deal in 44-Year Career at Berkshire Warren Buffett put together the biggest deal in his 44-year career at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 10 days.

Splitting Berkshire's B Stock 50-1 Will Boost Stake of `Inferior' Owners Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s planned 50- for-1 stock split will put its Class B shares within reach of investors Warren Buffett once called an “inferior” class.

Railroad Takeover Reduces Buffett Successor's Need for `Amazing Insight' Warren Buffett’s takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. may reduce his successor’s need for “amazing insight” to lead Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Buffett's $26 Billion Burlington Wager on Economy May Boost Obama Policies Warren Buffett’s takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. today is a $26 billion bet on President Barack Obama’s economic policies at a time when the administration may need the help.

Buffett Railroad Deal Is a Survivalist Bet: Commentary by Alice Schroeder Warren Buffett called Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s deal to buy the part of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. that it doesn’t already own an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.”

The market looks to be opening up today, I'm going to leave Warren, Charlie and Matthew to figure out their next move.
For new visitors, we have dozens, maybe hundreds of posts on Warren and his empire, we are fans.
Use the 'Search Blog' box; keywords Buffet or Berkshire or BRK.A, there is some very good stuff here. For example, "Warren Buffett, Mr. Market and the Buffett Partnership Letters, 1959-1969 (BRK.A)".
Have at it.