Warren Buffett Goes to Las Vegas: MidAmerican to Acquire NV Energy

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Warren Buffett’s team at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is out making yet another acquisition. In this case is comes from the MidAmerican utility unit, which is acquiring NV Energy Inc. (NYSE: NVE) to be the primary utility for about 1.3 million electric and natural gas customers in Nevada. While this may be listed as a $10 billion deal based upon the enterprise value, we would not really consider this acquisition as one of Mr. Buffett’s famed “Whale of a deal.”

MidAmerican will pay $23.75 per share in cash and both companies have said that their respective boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal. The transaction is currently expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.

NV Energy NV Energy provides services to roughly 2.4 million citizens of Nevada and nearly 40 million tourists annually. MidAmerican Energy will have assets of approximately $66 billion and its regulated electric and gas utilities will serve 8.4 million customers after this deal is closed upon.

As a part of MidAmerican, NV Energy will gain access to additional operational and financial resources. It will have the opportunity to combine MidAmerican’s management experience in renewable energy with Nevada’s renewable resources. The company will operate as a separate corporate subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy and will continue to be headquartered in Las Vegas.

Warren Buffett was quoted saying, “This is a great fit for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B), and we are pleased to make a long-term investment in Nevada’s economy. Through MidAmerican, we have found in NV Energy a great company with similar values, outstanding assets, and a superb management team.”

NV Energy’s market cap was of the close was $4.54 billion and its closing price of $19.28 compared to a 52-week trading range of $16.90 to $21.63. Shares are trading up around $23.80 in the after-hours, but we would warn merger-arbitrage investors that Mr. Buffett and his team almost never pay more than the original terms agreed to even if others believe a company is worth more money.

NV Energy’s dividend yield as of the closing price on Wednesday was about 3.8%.

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618