NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 19, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK; AA+/Negative/A-1+) and its insurance subsidiaries are unaffected by the announcement that BRK and investment firm 3G Capital have agreed to acquire consumer products company H. J. Heinz Co. in a transaction valued at $28 billion, including the assumption of Heinz's outstanding debt. We expect the transaction to close in third-quarter 2013. Based on our preliminary understanding of the structure and financing of this acquisition, we believe that BRK's insurance capital adequacy, as measured by our proprietary capital-adequacy model, remains on track to improve to the 'AA' level by year-end 2013. However, this transaction significantly reduces the projected capital
