Warren Buffett is staying active even as he gets ready to hand over the CEO reins at the end of this year.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced Thursday it reached a deal to buy Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical unit, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion in cash.
The deal marks Berkshire’s largest since 2022, when it paid $11.6 billion for insurer Alleghany. It also comes at a time in which the conglomerate is sitting on $344 billion in cash, near a record for the company.
Shares of Occidental rose 1.4% in premarket trading Thursday following the announcement.
Berkshire is already a major investor in Occidental, holding a 28.2% stake as of the end of June. Buffett — who is 95 and stepping down as CEO at the end of the year — has said he wouldn’t take complete control of the Houston-based oil company.
OxyChem manufactures water treatment, healthcare and other commercial chemicals.
