Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway introduced Thursday it reached a deal to purchase Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical unit, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion in money.
The deal marks Berkshire’s largest since 2022, when it paid $11.6 billion for insurer Alleghany. It additionally comes at a time through which the conglomerate is sitting on $344 billion in money, close to a file for the corporate.
Shares of Occidental fell about 6% on Thursday following the announcement.
Berkshire is already a serious investor in Occidental, holding a 28.2% stake as of the top of June. Buffett — who’s 95 and stepping down as CEO on the finish of the 12 months — has mentioned he would not take full management of the Houston-based oil firm.
OxyChem manufactures water remedy, well being care and different business chemical compounds. Occidental mentioned it would use $6.5 billion of the proceeds to pay down debt.
Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub mentioned the debt discount ensuing from the deal will allow her firm to restart shopping for again inventory.
“The issue has been getting our debt down sooner, so this resolves the one excellent difficulty that I feel will now unlock our inventory and permit shareholders to really feel extra snug, hopefully, so as to add to their positions and others to return in,” Hollub mentioned Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Field.” “So now we’re going to have the ability to begin our sharing buy program once more. … That is the final step that we wanted in our main transformation that we began 10 years in the past.”
The final time Berkshire did a deal within the chemical area was in 2011, shopping for Lubrizol for the same $10 billion determine.
“We stay up for welcoming OxyChem as an working subsidiary inside Berkshire,” mentioned Greg Abel, vice chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire, in a press launch.
Abel, who will succeed Buffett as CEO of Berkshire in 2026, added that Hollub is displaying her “dedication to Occidental’s long-term monetary stability, as demonstrated by their plan to make use of proceeds to bolster the corporate’s stability sheet.”
Each corporations count on the deal to shut within the fourth quarter. The Wall Road Journal first reported on the transaction earlier this week.
Buffett first received concerned with Occidental in 2019 when he helped bankroll Occidental’s buy of Anadarko Petroleum with a $10 billion dedication. He obtained most well-liked shares and warrants to purchase frequent inventory in return.
Hollub mentioned as Occidental grows its money place, it would begin redeeming Berkshire’s most well-liked inventory in 2029. Occidental at the moment pays a 8% dividend on Berkshire’s preferreds.
