Berkshire Hathaway to Buy Oncor

NEW YORK (AP) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying the Texas power transmitter Oncor for $9 billion, one of his biggest acquisitions.

Last year, Berkshire completed its biggest acquisition in its history, a $32.36 billion deal for aviation parts maker Precision Castparts.

Oncor serves about 10 million people and is the biggest regulated utility in Texas. Its parent company, Energy Future Holdings Corp., entered bankruptcy in 2014 facing more than $40 billion in debt after energy prices plunged.

Berkshire Hathaway will acquire a reorganized Energy Future, ultimately leading to the buyout of Oncor, based in Dallas.

It’s the third time that that an acquisition attempt has been made for Oncor. In April Texas regulators rejected a proposed $18 billion sale of Oncor to NextEra Energy Inc. That price tag included debt, which may also double the enterprise value of the deal that Buffett is attempting to cobble together.

The regulators failed to accept that the NextEra transaction was in the public interest — a requirement for the deal. A buyout attempt last year backed by the Ray Hunt family of Dallas also faltered.

Berkshire Hathaway already has a significant presence in Texas, which includes headquarters for BNSF Railway Co., Acme Brick Co., Justin Brands Inc., McLane Co., Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Star Furniture Co., TTI Inc., Charter Brokerage, LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc. and Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

The deal, which requires state, federal and bankruptcy court approval, is targeted to close in the fourth quarter.