Warren Buffett beefs up GM stake to 25 million shares
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Berkshire's GM shares are worth about $694 million based on Thursday's closing price. |
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DETROIT -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has acquired 10 million more shares of General Motors, lifting its holdings in the company to 25 million shares.
The latest investment -- disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday -- comes as the U.S. government unloads a portion of its stake in the company.
GM shares fell 3.2 percent, or 92 cents, to $27.75 on Thursday in New York Stock Exchange trading following the release of the company's fourth-quarter and 2012 financial results. The shares rose 1 cent today to $27.76.
Berkshire's GM shares are worth about $694 million based on Thursday's closing price, making it among the automaker's biggest shareholders.
Buffett is well known as a value investor with patience and a long-term view of equity markets.
Berkshire Hathaway is also a partial owner of BYD Co., a Chinese carmaker that specializes in electric vehicles.
Berkshire acquired 10 million shares of GM in early 2012 at an average price of $25.66 and purchased another 5 million shares in the third quarter of 2012.
GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson, a former managing director at private equity firm Carlyle Group, told The Detroit News in a 2012 interview that Buffett was a "wise investor" with a "track record to prove it."
In December, the U.S. Treasury announced it would sell 200 million of its 500 million shares in GM for $5.5 billion.
The U.S. government, which bailed GM out in 2008 and 2009, still owns about 19 percent of the automaker.
On Thursday, Buffett shook up the investment world by teaming up with investor 3G Capital to buy ketchup and food products giant H.J. Heinz Co. in a deal valued at $28 billion when including debt assumption.
You can reach David Phillips at dphillips@crain.com.
