Buffett boosts stake in rail firm

Warren Buffett's company has bought 10.1 million shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp since Thursday, increasing the legendary investor's stake in the No 2 US railroad to nearly 14.8 percent.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc revealed its three latest railroad stock purchases in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late on Monday (local time).

Both classes of Berkshire's stock fell less than 1 percent on Friday before the filing was released. Berkshire Class A shares, which are the most expensive US stock, lost $850 to close at $119,000. Berkshire Class B shares lost $29.50 to close at $3,965.50.

The Omaha-based company bought more than 4.3 million shares for $79.96 apiece on Thursday and nearly 2.5 million shares for $79.97 on Friday. On Monday, the company bought more than 3.3 million shares for $80 apiece.

It's the third set of BNSF purchases Berkshire has reported this month, with the first two sets totaling about 2.5 million shares.

That brings Berskhire's total stake in the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad to 52.1 million shares. The new shares were bought by Berkshire subsidiary National Indemnity Company.

Berkshire said National Indemnity now holds 26.1 million shares, Columbia Insurance Company holds 24.7 million shares and National Fire & Marine Insurance Company holds 1.3 million shares.

Because the purchases are by subsidiaries, it's not clear whether Buffett himself made the decision to buy.

Berkshire officials do not typically comment on the company's stock holdings. A message left for spokeswoman Jackie Wilson after business hours on Friday was not immediately returned.

(China Daily 08/29/2007 page15)