Berkshire took stakes in three of the biggest U.S haulers of freight before announcing last year the takeover of Burlington Northern and selling holdings in the other two. A buyout of one of Berkshire's reinsurance rivals is less likely, analysts said, because clients would probably resist. Valuing Diversity "There's no way they could do something strategic, given their own position," said Tim Dawson, a Geneva based analyst at Helvea SA. In a merger among top reinsurers, "the loss of business would be quite substantial. 
Share:  Berkshire took stakes in three of the biggest U.S haulers of freight before announcing last year the takeover of <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> and selling holdings in the other two. A buyout of one of Berkshire's reinsurance rivals is less likely, analysts said, because clients would probably resist.<span class="sent"> Valuing Diversity "There's no way they could do something strategic, given their own position," said <span class="analyst">Tim Dawson</span>, a Geneva based analyst at Helvea SA.</span> In a merger among top reinsurers, "the loss of business would be quite substantial. Tweet this 

Those keeping track include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which raised its rating for BNSF long term debt on Feb 4 to "BBB plus" from "BBB," while knocking down Berkshire from the top "AAA" rating to "AA plus" over its reduced liquidity after paying for BNSF "BNSF's internally generated cash flow is well in excess of capital expenditures and working capital needs," S&P analyst Anita Ogbara said, "and we expect this to remain so following the acquisition" Contact John D Boyd at jboyd@joccom 
Share:  Those keeping track include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which raised its rating for <span class="company">BNSF</span> long term debt on Feb 4 to "BBB plus" from "BBB," while knocking down Berkshire from the top "AAA" rating to "AA plus" over its reduced liquidity after paying for <span class="company">BNSF</span><span class="sent"> "<span class="company">BNSF</span>'s internally generated cash flow is well in excess of capital expenditures and working capital needs," S&P analyst <span class="analyst">Anita Ogbara</span> said, "and we expect this to remain so following the acquisition"</span> Contact John D Boyd at jboyd@joccom...Those keeping track include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which raised its rating for <span class="company">BNSF</span> long term debt on Feb 4 to "BBB plus" from "BBB," while knocking down Berkshire from the top "AAA" rating to "AA plus" over its reduced liquidity after paying for <span class="company">BNSF</span><span class="sent"> "<span class="company">BNSF</span>'s internally generated cash flow is well in excess of capital expenditures and working capital needs," S&P analyst <span class="analyst">Anita Ogbara</span> said, "and we expect this to remain so following the acquisition"</span> Contact John D Boyd at jboyd@joccom Tweet this 

A long term perspective is "one thing that our country has kind of lost sight of, not just for the railroad equity investor but for a lot of investors" Being part of Berkshire will free Burlington Northern management from quarterly pressures, said Jason Seidl, an analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co ‘Tough Act' "You can probably focus a little more on the long term" as a private company, Seidl said With publicly traded stock, "you tend to have to balance between pleasing your shareholders on a quarterly basis and also what's good in the long term It's a tough act" 
Share:  A long term perspective is "one thing that our country has kind of lost sight of, not just for the railroad equity investor but for a lot of investors"<span class="sent"> Being part of Berkshire will free <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> management from quarterly pressures, said <span class="analyst">Jason Seidl</span>, an analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co ‘Tough Act'</span> "You can probably focus a little more on the long term" as a private company, Seidl said With publicly traded stock, "you tend to have to balance between pleasing your shareholders on a quarterly basis and also what's good in the long term It's a tough act" Tweet this 

Burlington Northern Santa Fe shareholders have approved the railroad's sale to Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway , paving the way for the Oracle of Omaha to complete his biggest acquisition yet. The $263 billion purchase of the nation's second largest railroad is expected to officially close on Friday, The Associated Press reports Burlington Northern's chief executive, Matthew Rose, said 70 percent of shares cast that Berkshire didn't already own voted in favor of the deal 
Share:  <span class="sent"><span class="company">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</span> shareholders have approved the railroad's sale to Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway , paving the way for the Oracle of Omaha to complete his biggest acquisition yet. </span> The $263 billion purchase of the nation's second largest railroad is expected to officially close on Friday, The Associated Press reports Burlington Northern's chief executive, Matthew Rose, said 70 percent of shares cast that Berkshire didn't already own voted in favor of the deal Tweet this 

Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK B) (NYSE: BRK A) has already seen its ratings cut last week by Standard & Poor's over the added leverage of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) acquisition. Now we have Fitch Ratings joining in on the wave of downgrades The difference here is that Fitch had already been under the Triple A status, which effectively means that this is a second lowering of the bar 
Share:  <span class="sent">Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK B) (NYSE: BRK A) has already seen its ratings cut last week by Standard & Poor's over the added leverage of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) acquisition. </span> Now we have Fitch Ratings joining in on the wave of downgrades The difference here is that Fitch had already been under the Triple A status, which effectively means that this is a second lowering of the bar Tweet this 

Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell $8 billion of bonds to fund the Burlington Northern purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," Damien Magarelli, an S&P credit analyst, said today in an interview "We're not of the view that the risk tolerances and risk management processes have evolved at the same pace" 
Share:  Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell $8 billion of bonds to fund the <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction<span class="sent"> "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," <span class="analyst">Damien Magarelli</span>, an S&P credit analyst, said today in an interview</span> "We're not of the view that the risk tolerances and risk management processes have evolved at the same pace"...Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell $8 billion of bonds to fund the <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction<span class="sent"> "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," <span class="analyst">Damien Magarelli</span>, an S&P credit analyst, said today in an interview</span> "We're not of the view that the risk tolerances and risk management processes have evolved at the same pace" Tweet this 

In , Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF)  railroad for $34B. The railroad is the largest second largest railroad in the country and is also the biggest mover of food products like corn and coal As one of the largest railroads, BNSF also transports the large amount of consumer goods from west coast ports to destinations across the country 
Share:  <span class="sent">In , Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the <span class="company">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</span> (BNSF)  railroad for $34B. The railroad is the largest second largest railroad in the country and is also the biggest mover of food products like corn and coal</span> As one of the largest railroads, BNSF also transports the large amount of consumer goods from west coast ports to destinations across the country Tweet this 

Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the US$26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said Thursday in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell US$8 billion of bonds to fund the Burlington Northern purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," Damien Magarelli, an S&P credit analyst, said Thursday in an interview Buffett, 79, has called the railroad takeover an "all in wager" on the US economy 
Share:  Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the US$26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said Thursday in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell US$8 billion of bonds to fund the <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction<span class="sent"> "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," <span class="analyst">Damien Magarelli</span>, an S&P credit analyst, said Thursday in an interview</span> Buffett, 79, has called the railroad takeover an "all in wager" on the US economy...Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the US$26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P's highest grade, the ratings firm said Thursday in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell US$8 billion of bonds to fund the <span class="company">Burlington Northern</span> purchase The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction<span class="sent"> "We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex," <span class="analyst">Damien Magarelli</span>, an S&P credit analyst, said Thursday in an interview</span> Buffett, 79, has called the railroad takeover an "all in wager" on the U Tweet this 

"We are taking these rating actions in anticipation of BRK's acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF)" said Standard & Poor's credit analyst John Iten 
Share:  <span class="sent">"We are taking these rating actions in anticipation of BRK's acquisition of <span class="company">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</span> (BNSF)" said <span class="analyst">Standard & Poor's</span> credit analyst John Iten</span> Tweet this