Berkshire unit's 10pc interest cheers investors
Trading volume in shares of BYD, the mainland's biggest maker of rechargeable batteries, yesterday jumped as much as 90 per cent after it announced the sale of a 10 per cent stake to a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway at the weekend.
Although trading was suspended in the morning, the shares rose to as high as HK$16 in afternoon trade, before closing at HK$11.90, up 41.67 per cent. The stock has fallen 12.36 per cent so far this year.
Shares in BYD Electronic (International), the company's handset unit, yesterday surged as much as 76 per cent intraday before easing back to end at HK$2.11, up 21.26 per cent.
Last Saturday, electricity and natural gas utility MidAmerican Energy Holdings, 87.4 per cent owned by Berkshire, bought 225 million BYD shares, aiming to tap into BYD's foray into the clean energy sector through electric car development.
The sale price of HK$8 per share represented a 4.76 per cent discount to last Friday's close of HK$8.40.
'The idea for the BYD investment was initially raised by Charlie Munger, who had already bought a small percentage of interest in BYD in mid-July,' MidAmerican chairman David Sokol said. 'It then came up to me to make a recommendation. I was so enthusiastic.'
