Berkshire Hathaway to buy Precision Castparts for $37 billion

Berkshire Hathaway to buy Precision Castparts for $37 billion

OMAHA/PORTLAND
Berkshire Hathaway to buy Precision Castparts for $37 billion

AP photo

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will buy Precision Castparts, a leading metal products supplier to the aerospace industry, for $37.2 billion, the companies said on Aug. 10 in a joint statement.

“The boards of directors of Berkshire Hathaway and Precision Castparts Corp (PCC) have unanimously approved a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire, for $235 per share in cash, all outstanding PCC shares. The transaction is valued at approximately $37.2 billion, including outstanding PCC net debt,” said the statement. 

“This takes us out of the market for an “elephant” for 12 months or so ... but we will be buying a few small things in the next six months,” Buffett said on CNBC, as quoted by Reuters. 

Buffett said Berkshire would use about $23 billion of its own cash and borrow the rest to finance the deal.
 
“We will have about $40 billion in cash once we get through this,” Buffett said. “I like to have a lot of cash at all times.”

Closing is expected to occur during the first quarter of calendar 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, according to the statement.