Buffett may take 25 pct Burlington Northern stake

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) may boost its stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N) to 25 percent, after accumulating 15 percent of the shares in the second-largest U.S. railroad.

According to a filing late Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire told the railroad company on Aug. 28 that it had a "good faith intention" to buy more than $597.9 million of additional Burlington Northern stock, on top of the 52.13 million shares it already owned.

The same day, it bought 845,000 shares for about $67.5 million, giving it 52.98 million shares, or 15 percent, now valued at about $4.4 billion.

Berkshire also said that "depending on market conditions," it may buy more stock "and thus designate the 25 percent threshold," according to the filing. The company notified Burlington Northern of its intentions under U.S. antitrust law, including the Hart-Scott-Rodino act, the filing said.

"Hart-Scott-Rodino sets investment thresholds," said Stephen Axinn, an antitrust partner at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP in New York. "The government then decides whether you are pursuing a transaction of interest, and if you don't hear from the government within 30 days, you can go up to the next threshold."

Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern has said it had 353.42 million shares outstanding as of July 16. Berkshire would need to buy about 35.4 million shares, now worth about $2.9 billion, to reach a 25 percent stake. It is already Burlington Northern's largest shareholder, according to Thomson ShareWatch.

Berkshire spokeswoman Jackie Wilson said the company was not available to comment.

In May, Berkshire reported stakes in two other railroad companies, a 6.36 million share stake in Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) and a 10.51 million share stake Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N). On Aug. 14, it said it filed confidential information with the SEC about the status of its holdings.

Buffett told shareholders at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's annual meeting in May that the railroad business's competitive prospects have improved and are better than they were 30 years ago.

Burlington Northern shares closed Tuesday up $1.75 at $82.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. They closed at $82.72 on April 5, before Berkshire first disclosed it was investing.

((Editing by Gary Hill; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net, 646 223 6317)) Keywords: BERKSHIRE BURLINGTONNORTHERN/

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