Warren Buffett shuns Wall Street advisers on latest megadeal
Warren Buffett isn't using any investment bankers on his $235-a-share, $37 billion deal to buy Precision Castparts, announced Monday morning August 10.
A deal of that size would normally have $50 million and $60 million in advisory banking fees, according to Jeffrey Nassof, vice president of consulting services with Freeman & Co.
This should come as no surprise.
Buffett has typically avoided using banks in his M&A transactions. The last Berkshire Hathaway deal that made use of an advisory bank was its $5.1 billion acquisition of PacifiCorp in 2005, according to Freeman & Co.
Buffett has also been a vocal critic of Wall Street bankers, calling them "money-shufflers" who produce "huge fees."
He won't be able to duck Wall Street entirely however.
In an interview Monday morning with CNBC, Buffett said that he would finance about $10 billion of the deal in the bond markets.
That is similar to his acquisition in late 2009 of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.; Berkshire Hathway placed $8 billion in debt as part of that transaction.
Nassof says Buffett and Berkshire will likely pony up about $25 million in fees for the financing.
Specifics on the $10 billion in debt financing weren't included as part of the Precision acquisition announcement.