Berkshire Hathaway To Dispose Holdings In Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern

11/9/2009 10:39 PM ET

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(RTTNews) - Matt Rose, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI: News ), said that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKa: News , BRKb) will be disposing holdings in Union Pacific Corp. (UNP: News ) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC: News ).

Berkshire Hathaway will be selling the stakes in the two railroad companies between now and the transaction date, Rose said in a conference call hosted last week concerning the proposed acquisition of BNSF by Berkshire Hathaway. The transcript of the call was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.

Last week, Berkshire Hathaway agreed to acquire the remaining 77.4% of outstanding shares of BNSF it did not own, in a $100 per share cash and stock transaction, which would be the largest acquisition in its history.

The proposed BNSF-Berkshire Hathaway transaction, which requires approval by holders of two-thirds of BNSF shares, and customary closing conditions, including a review by Department of Justice, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.

According to another regulatory filing, Berkshire Hathaway held 9.55 million shares of Union Pacific and 1.93 million shares of Norfolk Southern as of June 30, 2009.

UNP closed Monday's trading session at $62.38, while NSC closed at $51.95. BNI closed the day's session at $97.60. BRKa closed the regular session at $102,600.20.