Berkshire To Convert Burger King/Tim Horton’s Warrants on December 12

By Dr. David Kass PhD, Harvard University

When Burger King’s (BKW)  acquisition of Tim Horton’s (THI) closes on December 12, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) will purchase $3 billion of 9% preferred shares and receive a warrant to purchase 1.75% of the common shares of the combined company at an exercise price of $0.01 per common share.  Berkshire has informed Burger King that it intends to exercise the warrant promptly following the closing of the transaction.  Berkshire will then own 8.4 million shares with a current market value of about $275 million.

Although the preferred shares will result in Berkshire receiving annual dividends of $270 million, approximating the current value of its common shares of the merged company, Berkshire’s...