Berkshire Hathaway, the business conglomerate of veteran investor Warren Buffett, announced Monday that it has agreed to buy the Alleghany insurer for $11.6 billion.
The acquisition, one of the largest in recent years at Buffett's company, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022 with Alleghany becoming its subsidiary, according to a joint statement.
"Berkshire will be the perfect permanent home for Alleghany, a company I've watched closely for 60 years," said Buffett, who at 91 is CEO of the company with partner Charlie Munger, 98.
He also pointed to "similarities" with Alleghany, which began in 1929 in the railroad business and has since focused on investments and property and casualty insurance through different subsidiaries.
Berkshire Hathaway, whose current businesses are wide-ranging from insurance, energy, rail and retail products, had recently disclosed its difficulty in finding potential acquisitions.
His last big operation was about six years ago, when he bought the industrial company Precision Castparts for about 37,000 million dollars, according to the specialized media CNBC.
According to the note, Berkshire will buy Alleghany's shares in cash for $848.02 each, which is 29% higher than its median price in the past month and 16% higher than its peak price in the past year.
