Buffett backs off in brief bidding skirmish

With a record $128 billion cash pile sitting idle at Berkshire Hathaway, it looks like Warren Buffett is getting more aggressive as he tries to spend some of that money. Even so, he's come up empty in his most recent acquisition attempt.

Buffett exclusively told CNBC's Becky Quick that Berkshire recently bid $140 per share, roughly $5 billion excluding debt, for Tech Data, a company that distributes technology products and services. (You can see Becky's full report in the clip below.)

The surprising aspect of the offer: it topped a $130 per share bid ($4.8 billion) for Tech Data made by private-equity firm Apollo Global.

Buffett has been very reluctant in the past to get into anything resembling a bidding contest, especially with a PE firm. He believes their free-spending ways in recent years have excessively inflated prices for companies on the sales block.

So it isn't surprising at all that Buffett told us he dropped out after Apollo responded with an offer of $145 per share, which values Tech Data around $5.1 billion.

Berkshire's Southwest stake tops 10%

In an SEC filing, Berkshire acknowledges its common stock stake in Southwest Airlines has gone above 10% of the airline's shares outstanding.

That's a level Buffett has generally tried to avoid due to increased regulatory burdens.

The increased percentage, however, is the result of Southwest buybacks that have reduced the number of shares outstanding. Berkshire hasn't reported making any change to the number of shares it owns.

Earlier this year, Berkshire bought additional shares of Delta Air Lines after that airline's buybacks pushed Berkshire's stake above 10%. (He told CNBC, "Once I'd lost my virginity, essentially, I thought, why stop at one?")

According to CNBC's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker, Buffett's company owns 11% of Delta.

The tracker also shows Berkshire's American Airlines stake is right at the 10% level.

Buffett silent as Bloomberg joins race for White House

Back in February, Buffett said on CNBC, "If Mike Bloomberg announced tomorrow that he was a candidate, I would say I’m for him. I think he would be a very good president."

It took awhile, but Bloomberg finally made that official announcement last Sunday.

So far, we haven't heard anything from Omaha on Buffett's more recent thoughts about the presidential race.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE

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BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $330,495 Friday, up 2.2% over the previous four weeks, and up 1.2% from one year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $220.30, up 2.1% over the previous four weeks, and up 1.2% from one year ago.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 3,140.98, up 2.4% over the previous four weeks, and up 14.7% from one year ago.

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS 

Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of September 30, 2019, as disclosed in the company's November 14 13F SEC filing.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

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Enjoy the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend. We'll be back next week.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch