The story
On October 24, 1999, BHE executed an Agreement and Plan of Merger with an investor consortium led by Berkshire Hathaway and comprising Walter Scott, Jr., David L. Sokol, and Gregory E. Abel. The agreement provided for the acquisition of all outstanding common shares of company at $35.05 per share, representing a 29% premium over the previous closing price. The total equity value of the transaction, inclusive of transaction costs, was approximately $2.2 billion. Berkshire Hathaway committed $1.24 billion to acquire common and convertible preferred stock and $455 million to purchase nontransferable trust preferred securities bearing an 11% coupon and maturing on March 14, 2010. Scott, Sokol, and Abel collectively contributed $310 million in cash and securities. The remaining funding was sourced from company's existing cash reserves. The transaction also included the assumption of $7 billion in outstanding debt. Following completion, voting ownership was allocated as follows: Berkshire Hathaway held a 9.7% stake, Scott held 86%, Sokol held 3%, and Abel held 1%. The merger resulted in company becoming a privately held company. Existing management and operational structures were retained.
On May 24, 2005, BHE agreed to acquire PacifiCorp from ScottishPower for $5.1 billion in cash, plus $4.3 billion in assumed debt and preferred stock. ScottishPower had purchased PacifiCorp in 1999 for approximately $10 billion. Under ScottishPower's ownership, PacifiCorp failed to achieve projected revenue growth and reported earnings below expectations, disappointing investors. In November 2004, ScottishPower initiated a review of PacifiCorp, which contributed about half of the parent company's earnings. Following an assessment of capital requirements and regulatory developments, ScottishPower determined divestiture was appropriate.
On March 18, 2006, BHE announced that it had received final regulatory approval to complete its acquisition of PacifiCorp, with the transaction expected to close by March 22. Regulatory approvals were obtained from the six state public utility commissions overseeing PacifiCorp’s service territories, as well as from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice. BHE stated that the regulatory process was completed within ten months of the announcement. BHE also committed to invest approximately $1 billion annually for at least five years to upgrade PacifiCorp’s electricity infrastructure, including transmission systems and emissions reductions at coal-fired plants.
On March 21, 2006, BHE finalized the acquisition of all outstanding common stock of PacifiCorp from PHI, a subsidiary of Scottish Power. This transaction was executed under the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement dated May 23, 2005, among BHE, ScottishPower, and PHI, as amended on March 21, 2006. The cash purchase price totaled $5,109,500,000. Following the acquisition, BHE held control of approximately 99.76% of PacifiCorp's voting securities, inclusive of preferred stock. Funding for the purchase was derived from BHE's sale of $5.07 billion in BHE common stock to Berkshire Hathaway and $35.5 million in the same stock to other BHE shareholders.
David L. Sokol was CEO until early 2008. He left Berkshire in 2011 after he personally made a $3 million profit from Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of Lubrizol.
On April 30, 2014, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company announced it had changed its name to Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Greg Abel, the company’s chief executive, stated that the new name reflected the benefits of Berkshire Hathaway’s ownership—particularly the ability to reinvest in businesses and maintain a long-term perspective on customer needs. This change aligned with a broader trend among Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries of adopting the parent company’s name to leverage its greater brand recognition compared to “MidAmerican.” Subsidiaries such as PacifiCorp and NV Energy retained their existing names and local management structures. The company reported $1.64 billion in profit on $12.74 billion in revenue for 2013, contributing nearly 8% to Berkshire Hathaway’s overall profit that year. Berkshire Hathaway held an 89.8% stake in the company, having initially acquired 76% in 2000. At the time, the company held approximately $70 billion in assets and served 8.4 million customers.
In August 2022, Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 1% stake in the company from Greg Abel for $870 million.
In October 2024, Berkshire Hathaway purchased the remaining 8% stake from the family of Walter Scott Jr. following his death three years prior, bringing the company's ownership to 100%.
From Wikipedia’s article on Berkshire Hathaway Energy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6