Deals
Buffett to Exit Sheetrock Maker USG in $7 Billion Knauf Takeover
- German suitor had won billionaire’s backing for acquisition
- Berkshire’s 18-year investment bolstered USG after bankruptcy
Warren Buffett
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
USG Corp. agreed to a $7 billion acquisition by Germany’s Knauf KG, a deal championed by Warren Buffett as a way to exit an 18-year investment that suffered through bankruptcy and a bailout.
The Sheetrock maker accepted an offer of $44 a share, which was sweetened from $42 after Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. threw its weight behind Knauf’s bid. The purchase represents a 31 percent premium to USG’s stock price in March, when Knauf’s overture was revealed publicly, the companies said in a statement Monday.