Why is Wesco Now Trading Above June 30 Book Value?
After the 13D filing made the news today, Wesco stock immediately rose substantially with some trades taking place above $382, far in excess of June 30 book value. The terms of the proposal call for Berkshire to offer Wesco shareholders book value “as of a time reasonably contemporaneous with the closing of such transaction.” We know that book value was $352.66 on June 30, but has this changed over the past two months? Without insight into Wesco’s business results, we cannot be sure what book value might be today vs. June 30. However, we can draw some basic conclusions by looking at Berkshire Hathaway’s recent 13F filing with the SEC which lists equity positions held by Berkshire and its subsidiaries as of June 30. The exhibit below lists positions included in Berkshire’s 13F filing that are attributed to Wesco (codes 18, 19, and 20). Note that the total does not tie to Wesco’s total equity securities as of 6/30/2010 listed at fair value of $1,936,171,000 due to the presence of untrade
