{"id":309319,"date":"2010-02-11T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T17:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087194156628161158.post-4485845890067908581"},"modified":"2010-02-11T12:57:04","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T17:57:04","slug":"cnbc-burlington-northern-shareholders-prefer-slightly-berkshire-stock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/309319","title":{"rendered":"CNBC: Burlington Northern Shareholders Prefer (Slightly) Berkshire Stock"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Published: Thursday, 11 Feb 2010 | 10:12 AM ET <\/span><\/div>\n
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By: Alex Crippen
Executive Producer<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In “extremely preliminary” results announced this morning, Burlington Northern shareholders show a slight preference for Berkshire Hathaway stock, rather than cash, as payment in the proposed Berkshire-BNSF merger<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/b>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>A Berkshire news release<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/b> says that as of yesterday’s election deadline<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/b>, ‘stock’ was ahead of ‘cash’ 43.36 percent to 40.85 percent. The remaining BNSF shares are classified as “No election.”<\/p>\n

<\/span>BNSF shareholders could choose either cash, Berkshire stock, or a mix.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The news release says the early results are being released at the request of the NYSE. It notes they are “subject to proration and reallocation so as to achieve as closely as practicable the 60\/40 cash-stock split” called for in the merger agreement.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Final “results of the election process” will be announced tomorrow when the deal closes, assuming Burlington Northern shareholders approve the merger at their special shareholders meeting<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/b> later today.<\/p>\n

<\/span>As of right now (10:10a ET), Burlington Northern shares are trading at $100.23, above the $100\/share merger price. Right now: