Buffett Loses Last AAA Rating as S&P Cuts Berkshire (Update2)

Warren Buffett’sBerkshire Hathaway Inc. was stripped of its last AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor’s after the billionaire investor agreed to buy railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut one level to AA+ from S&P’s highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade came the same day Berkshire filed to sell $8 billion of bonds to fund the Burlington Northern purchase. The sale of the senior unsecured notes was completed after the ratings company announced its decision, said a person with knowledge of the transaction.

“We think that Berkshire is becoming increasingly complex,” Damien Magarelli, an S&P credit analyst, said today in an interview. “We’re not of the view that the risk tolerances and risk management processes have evolved at the same pace.”

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