Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Munich Re<\/a>, the world\u2019s biggest reinsurer, said Warren Buffett<\/a> raised his stake in the company to more than 3 percent. <\/p>\n Buffett\u2019s stake rose to 3.045 percent on Jan. 18, Munich Re said in a statement distributed by the DGAP newswire today. Stakeholders of German companies must declare share purchases or sales that bring their investments above or below certain thresholds. <\/p>\n Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc.<\/a> owns the world\u2019s third-biggest reinsurer, is Munich Re\u2019s No. 2 shareholder<\/a> after asset manager BlackRock Inc.<\/a> New York-based BlackRock increased its stake in Munich Re through the purchase of Barclays Global Investors, and held 4.58 percent on Dec. 1, according to the reinsurer. <\/p>\n \u201cI would doubt that Buffett is interested in taking over Munich Re as that would expose Berkshire, which already has a significant reinsurance business, too much to the sector,\u201d said Konrad Becker<\/a>, an analyst at Merck Finck & Co. in Munich who recommends buying Munich Re shares. \u201cI think Buffett rather bets on rising share prices at Swiss Re as well as Munich Re.\u201d <\/p>\n Munich Re rose<\/a> 1.30 euros, or 1.2 percent, to 109.80 euros in Frankfurt, valuing the company at 21.7 billion euros ($30.5 billion). That compares with a 0.3 percent gain in the 29-member Bloomberg Europe 500 Insurance Index. <\/p>\n Swiss Re Stake <\/p>\n The investment by Buffett \u201cacknowledges our sustainable strategy,\u201d spokeswoman Johanna Weber<\/a> said via telephone. <\/p>\n Buffett didn\u2019t respond to an e-mail message left with his assistant, Carrie Kizer<\/a>, before business hours in Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire Hathaway is based. <\/p>\n Billionaire investor Buffett has been a shareholder in Munich Re since at least 2008. Munich Re Chief Executive Officer Nikolaus von Bomhard<\/a> told shareholders at the annual meeting in Munich that year that he expected Buffett to remain a shareholder in the company. At the time, Buffett\u2019s stake was below the 3 percent threshold, the lowest that requires disclosure. <\/p>\n Buffett\u2019s Berkshire held 3 percent of Swiss Re as of March 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Zurich-based reinsurer is increasing surplus capital as it bids to regain its AA credit rating and repay 3 billion francs ($2.87 billion), which Buffett injected into the company last February. <\/p>\n Swiss Re last week also sold Berkshire Hathaway a block of closed U.S. individual life reinsurance business to cut risk and improve its capital position. <\/p>\n Reinsurers help primary insurers such as Allianz SE and Axa SA shoulder risks for clients. <\/p>\n