More Business >>
<< Prev | Next >>

By ERIC TORBENSON and BRENDAN CASE / The Dallas Morning News |

Warren Buffett bought an expensive train set Tuesday, betting $26 billion for Fort Worth's Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad on the hunch that a recovering economy will stoke the nation's appetite for coal and Chinese imports.

The billionaire investor's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock for the 77 percent of BNSF it didn't already own.

His offer drives up BNSF's total value to $34 billion, including the stake he already owned. Add $10 billion in assumed debt, and the $44 billion total price tag makes it Buffett's biggest buy ever.

"It's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States," Buffett said in a prepared statement. "I love these bets."

If the deal closes as planned early next year, it would give Berkshire 32,000 miles of track across 28 states, largely between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.

Text A Friend >>

<< Prev | Next >>
More Business >>