Buffett Stripped of His Last AAA Rating as S&P Cuts Berkshire

BLOOMBERG.COM
By Andrew Frye

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’sBerkshire Hathaway Inc. was stripped of its last AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor’s after the billionaire investor agreed to buy railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut to AA+ from S&P’s highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade concludes a review that S&P announced on Nov. 4, the day after Berkshire disclosed the deal for Burlington Northern.

“The railroad acquisition will reduce what historically has been extremely strong capital adequacy and liquidity,” the ratings firm said. FULL STORY