Warren Buffett Case

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Suggested Questions for Warren Buffett’s Case Assignment 1. What is the possible meaning of the changes in stock price for Berkshire Hathaway and Scottish Power plc on the day of the acquisition announcement? Specifically, what does the $2.17-billion gain in Berkshire’s market value of equity imply about the intrinsic value of PacifiCorp? 2. Based on the multiples for comparable regulated utilities, what is the range of possible values for PacifiCorp? What questions might you have about this range? 3. Assess the bid for PacifiCorp. How does it compare with the firm’s intrinsic value? As an alternative, the instructor could suggest that students perform a simple discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. Buffet’s bid for PacifiCorp was 5.1 billion in cash and 4.3 billion in liabilities and preferred stock. Buffet had said the energy sector has long interested him and many people believe Duke Energy’s bid to acquire Cinergy had contributed to Buffet’s bid in PacifiCorp. With Buffet looking for the next “elephant” it looked like he expected PacifiCorp to be his next elephant. The company had a strong market hold and with its hydrothermal, renewable wind power, gas-fired combustion, and geothermal facilities the company had a strong outlook for the “going green” future the world is/was looking towards. Exhibit 10 shows that PacifiCorp’s book value was above the mean and median of comparable firms so the company’s business financials were in order. Buffet believes in companies with a high return on equity and low debt. Exhibit 9 shows that PacifiCorp had a large amount of debt compared to other regulated Energy Firms which is why many analysts questioned Buffet’s interest in the company. Buffett is none for investing in companies with a simple operation, high return on equity and low debt. PacifiCorp did not completely fit this mold. To show the

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