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Warren Buffett is waiting to deploy a $137 billion cash pile for a future mega-deal. Here are Berkshire Hathaway's 10 biggest acquisitions so far.

Warren Buffett is waiting to deploy a $137 billion cash pile for a future mega-deal. Here are Berkshire Hathaway's 10 biggest acquisitions so far.

Ben Winck

Rick Wilking/Reuters

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hasn't closed a major takeover since 2016, and the holding company's ammunition for such a deal is building up.
Berkshire has $137 billion to deploy for its next deal, and precedent shows Buffett shelling out tens of billions of dollars for his biggest acquisitions.
Here are the 10 biggest deals in Berkshire Hathaway's history, from Precision Castparts to Duracell.
Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Warren Buffett hasn't closed a major takeover since 2016, and if precedent is anything to go by, the next one will be colossal.

Berkshire Hathaway is sitting on a $137 billion cash pile, and even as valuations tank amid the pandemic-fueled downturn, Buffett isn't chasing any deals. While some companies approached Berkshire for aid, the Federal Reserve's move into corporate bond purchases erased any chances for a near-term acquisition, Buffett said at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in early May.

"We haven't done anything because we don't see anything that attractive to do," the CEO said. "The companies we were getting calls from, after the Fed acted, a number of them were able to get money in the public market frankly at terms we wouldn't have given."

"Now that could change very quickly or it may not change," he added, referring to Berkshire's lack of targets.

Whenever Buffett does find a new firm to add to his corporate empire, expect the Oracle of Omaha to shell out hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Here are Berkshire Hathaway's 10 biggest acquisitions, in ascending order by dollar value.

Read the original article on Business Insider

1. Precision Castparts

Precision Castparts/precast.com

Price: $37 billion

While the aforementioned railway deal may be largest when accounting for debt, Berkshire's 2016 purchase of this industrial goods firm is the largest acquisition made by Buffett's holding company.

2. Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett looks at a model railroad, prior to participating in the annual shareholders meeting, in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, May 1, 2010. AP Images

Price: $34 billion

Berkshire Hathaway took a controlling stake in this railway company in late 2009. Though the purchase totaled $34 billion, the assumption of $10 billion in company debt makes the Burlington Northern Santa Fe takeover Berkshire's largest in history.

3. Kraft Heinz

Commemorative items for sale are on display at the Kraft Heinz booth during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 30, 2016. Rya Henriksen/Reuters

Price: $28 billion

Berkshire and 3G Capital took over this ketchup maker in 2013 before merging it with food titan Kraft two years later.

4. General Reinsurance

Philanthropist Warren Buffett (center) is joined onstage by 24 other philanthropist and influential business people featured on the Forbes list of 100 Greatest Business Minds during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017 in New York City. Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

Price: $22 billion

One of Berkshire's older multibillion-dollar deals, Buffett took over General Reinsurance in 1998 before combining it with Cologne Re and marketing the two as Gen Re.

5. Lubrizol

This aerial view shows the industrial zone of Rouen, north-western France on December 9, 2019, with the fire damaged Lubrizol factory at centre Lou Benoist/AFP/Getty Images

Price: $9.7 billion

Purchased by Berkshire in 2011, this chemical company was investigated by French authorities when a devastating 2019 fire saw thousands of tons of chemical products go up in smoke.

6. Pacificorp

FILE - This May 6, 2013 file photo shows a wind turbine farm owned by PacifiCorp near Glenrock, Wyo. Western U.S. electrical utility PacifiCorp plans to move faster away from coal-fired power while getting more juice from the sun and wind, the company announced Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Young,File) Associated Press

Price: $9.4 billion

The same subsidiary, now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy, bought this electric power distributor in 2005.

7. NV Energy

The Bellagio Hotel's nightly water fountain show is seen amongst the lights of other casinos on the Las Vegas strip. George Rose/Getty Images

Price: $5.6 billion

Berkshire's energy-focused subsidiary bought this Las Vegas-based utility company in early 2013.

8. Duracell

Used Duracell batteries are seen in an office in Kiev Thomson Reuters

Price: $4.7 billion

Berkshire's acquisition of this battery giant arrived in 2014 after Proctor & Gamble sought to spin off the business. Buffett's firm bought Duracell entirely with P&G stock, and the company's transfer to Berkshire wasn't completed until early 2016.

9. Marmon Holdings

linois Governor J.B. Pritzker delivers remarks at the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) 2019 legislative conference in Washington, U.S., April 9, 2019 REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Price: $4.5 billion

Founded by current Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Berkshire took over this holding company at the start of 2008.

10. ISCAR

U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett (2nd L) and Stef Wertheimer (L), honorary chairman of the board of Iscar Metalworking companies, tour Iscar Metalworking Cos. in Tefen industrial zone in northern Israel September 18, 2006. REUTERS/Yonathan Weitzman

Price: $4 billion

Berkshire bought this Israeli metalworking company in 2006, and Buffett later deemed the purchase a "dream acquisition."