GE to buy out Buffett
US corporate giant General Electric is to repay the $3.3bn (£2.1bn) lifeline it received from billionaire Warren Buffett during the financial crisis by 17 October, a regulatory filing yesterday showed.
GE will buy the entire preferred stake back from Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle in cash, including unpaid dividends, in a move that closes the door on a troubled period in its history.
GE will also be relieved of the $330m annual cost of the stake, as it has paid Buffett a ten per cent dividend each year in return for the aid.
Buffett will have made more than $1.2bn on the investment since he helped to shore up GE in the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.
Buffett mirrored this deal structure again last month, loaning Bank of America $5bn at a six per cent rate.