Berkshire set to buy Wesco Financial
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said today that it will buy all of the remaining shares in Wesco Financial Corp. that it does not already own in a deal valued at $547.6 million. If Wesco shareholders approve the purchase of roughly 1.4 million shares, which has been approved by the company’s board, they will have a choice of accepting either cash or Class B shares of Berkshire stock in a deal that is expected to close by the end of the second quarter. Wesco is a conglomerate that owns insurance businesses and a mix of operating companies, similar to Berkshire. The Pasadena, Calif., company has been an indirect subsidiary of Berkshire since 1983.