With Heinz Deal, an \'Elephant\' for Berkshire

When Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the H.J. Heinz Company on Thursday, the deal had some of the classic hallmarks of Warren E. Buffett.

For one, the billionaire investor is adding another old-time American brand to his portfolio, which includes Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.

But the $23 billion deal, in which he is teaming up with 3G Capital Management, is also notable for its size. In 2011, Mr. Buffett said he was on the hunt for bigger acquisition prey. With the Heinz deal, he has bagged his “elephant.”

Below is a look at some of Berkshire’s deals in recent years.

November 2012: Oriental Trading for $500 million | Mr. Buffett’s deals have recently been on the relatively small side, including te $500 million purchase of the Oriental Trading Company. The deal ended a series of ownership changes for the catalog-based seller of arts and crafts.

August 2011: Bank of America investment of $5 billion | With many investors feeling skittish about big banks, Berkshire announced plans to invest $5 billion in Bank of America, a vote of confidence in the company, which was struggling under the weight of its mortgage problems. Bank of America’s shares have rebounded strongly since then, as the bank has tried to put its legal woes behind it.

March 2011: Lubrizol for $9 billion | After telling sharehold! ers that Berkshire had reloaded its “elephant gun,” Mr. Buffett agreed to buy the Lubrizol Corporation, a chemical maker specializing in lubricants, for $9 billion in cash. The deal was touched by controversy after the revelation that David L. Sokol, who was then a top deputy to Mr. Buffett, purchased a stake in Lubrizol while orchestrating a potential takeover. The Securities and Exchange Commission ultimately decided not to file insider trading charges against Mr. Sokol.

November 2009: Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion | Berkshire General Electric investment of $3 billion | Mr. Buffett bought into General Electric at a steep discount, paying $3 billion for perpetual preferred stock. The company agreed to repay the investment in September 2011.

September 2008: Goldman Sachs investment of $5 billion | In the depths of the financial crisis, Berkshire agreed to invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. With the Berkshire backing, the investment bank also raised $5 billion in a stock offering. Goldman agreed to repay the investment in March 2011, leaving Berkshire with a $1.7 billion profit.

April 2008: Wrigley financing of $4.4 billion | As part of a $23 billion deal by Mars to buy the chewing-gum company Wrigley, Berkshire provided $4.4 billionof loans. “Those of you who know me, know that I have been a big fan of Wrigley’s business model for many years, and I love their products,” Mr. Buffett said at the time.

December 2007: Marmon Holdings stake for $4.5 billion | On Christmas Day, Mr. Buffett agreed to buy a 60 percent stake in Marmon Holdings from the Pritzker family for $4.5 billion, with plans to gradually increase his stake over the ensuing years.