Standard & Poor’s has followed through on its warning and lowered Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s long-term credit rating Thursday as the Omaha firm readies to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
The ratings agency lowered Berkshire’s rating one notch to “AA+” from “AAA,” its highest designation.
S&P also removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications in November, and called the outlook stable.
Berkshire Hathaway officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
S&P said it expects a significant part of the cash portion to come from Berkshire Hathaway’s core insurance operations, and the $26.3 billion railroad purchase will reduce the liquidity of the company’s insurance operations.
The deal is expected to close by Feb. 15. (AP)
