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Non-Tech : Berkshire Hathaway Class B -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Leroyt who wrote (1395)	3/15/2000 12:29:00 AM
From: Yamakita	Respond to of 1652

Tuesday March 14 4:40 PM ET Buffett Group Completes MidAmerican Buy DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. said on Tuesday that an investment group led by its largest shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRKa - news) has completed the $9 billion acquisition of MidAmerican. MidAmerican's shareholders, other than members of the investor group and shareholders with dissenters' rights, will receive $35.05 a share in cash, or about $2 billion, for the electric and gas power generating company. The remainder of the acquisition value comes debt assumption. The investor group consists of Berkshire Hathaway, which is operated by famed Omaha-based investor Warren Buffett; Walter Scott Jr. of Omaha, MidAmerican's largest individual shareholder; and MidAmerican Chairman and Chief Executive David Sokol. Scott and Sokol are investing $300 million in the acquisition. Berkshire Hathaway will gain about 75 percent ownership in MidAmerican for its $1.25 billion investment in common and convertible preferred stock. Berkshire Hathaway will also buy an $800 million issue of non-transferable trust preferred stock. ``We will now be better able to make strategic decisions for the long-term benefit of the company, its employees, the communities we serve and our customers,' Sokol said in a statement. ``We feel this investment by Berkshire Hathaway is a ringing endorsement of our strategy by one of the most successful investment entities ever created.' The transaction was approved by MidAmerican's shareholders on January 27, 2000, and has received all required regulatory approvals. MidAmerican has about 9,700 employees and provides electric service to 2.0 million customers and natural gas service to 1.2 million customers worldwide. Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in a number of diverse business activities, including insurance and investments in well known companies such as Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news). MidAmerican Energy shares traded at $35.00 each.