Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
A couple days after the last sale, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway decreased its stake in the Chinese automaker BYD from 19.92% to 18.87% selling 1.72 million shares on September 1.
According to the filing, the investor sold BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares for HK$450.83 million, $57 million
BYD staff commented saying the reduction in the company’s shareholding “is its own investment decision and that company’s current operating conditions are healthy as vehicle sales repeatedly hit new highs”.
Earlier this week, Berkshire reported the sale of 1.33 million shares at an average price of HK $277.10 per share on August 24 — decreasing its stake from 20.49% to 19.92%.
In 2008, Warren Buffett invested 225 million shares at a price of HK$8 per share and is currently BYD’s fourth-largest shareholder via Western Capital LLC, which is 100% controlled by Berkshire Hathaway.
In mid-July, BYD saw its share price plunge by 11.93% to HK$270.20 after 225 million BYD shares were transferred to Citibank. On July 11, Citi Bank’s position increased by 225 million shares to a total of 389 million shares, raising its ownership to 35.39%.
At the time, the transfer of 225 million shares to Citibank generated speculation given that the value is exactly the same as Berkshire Hathaway was holding in the last filing.
By then, BYD‘s Securities Affairs department commented, “The data we are seeing now is that Buffett’s holdings have not changed at present. Its shareholding ratio is very large, and if it involves changes in shares, it will definitely be disclosed. ”
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
