Fitch rates Berkshire notes A+

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an A+ rating to the $1 billion senior unsecured notes issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp. and fully guaranteed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The notes are issued in two tranches consisting of $400 million floating rate senior notes due January 2017 and $600 million floating-rate senior notes due January 2018.

The A+ ratings are equivalent to the ratings on both companies’ outstanding senior unsecured notes, Fitch said.

The ratings are supported by the extremely strong capitalization and market position of the group’s insurance subsidiaries, solid operating performance with good diversification across business lines and excellent financial flexibility and liquidity, Fitch said.

Also considered in the ratings are material equity-market risk, insured natural catastrophe exposures, growing exposure to asbestos and environmental risk and various issues associated with the company’s acquisition strategy, the agency said.

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