Buffett Says Wesco Deal May Be Disadvantageous to Berkshire

Warren Buffett said shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. may have their financial interests harmed by the company’s planned stock-and-cash deal to take a 100 percent stake in Wesco Financial Corp.

Using Berkshire stock would dilute investors’ holdings in exchange for more ownership in a firm that may have less growth potential, Buffett told Wesco Director Carolyn Carlburg in a Jan. 21 letter published today in a Berkshire regulatory filing. Berkshire, the top investor in Kraft Foods Inc., last year opposed the foodmaker’s plan to issue shares for an acquisition, saying the stock was “very expensive currency.”