US investor Warren Buffett takes 3 percent stake in German reinsurer Munich Re

Buffett takes stake in Munich Re

BERLIN — U.S. investor Warren Buffett holds just over 3 percent of leading reinsurer Munich Re AG, the German company said Tuesday.

An ad hoc statement from the company said that Buffett has informed it he now has 3.045 percent of the voting rights in Munich Re. The statement attributed the holding to Buffett rather than to his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is based in Omaha, Neb.

Companies are obliged to issue such statements when holdings exceed 3 percent. Munich Re declined to say whether Buffett had owned any shares before bringing his stake above 3 percent.

Buffett did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning, but he and other Berkshire officials do not typically comment on the company’s investment decisions beyond what they are legally required to disclose.

Munich Re is one of the world’s biggest reinsurance companies, selling backup coverage to other insurers, spreading risk in the event of huge losses.

“We’re happy about every investor,” Munich Re spokeswoman Johanna Weber said, without providing further details.

Berkshire owns several major insurance companies, including reinsurance giant General Re Corp. and Geico. It also owns a diverse mix of more than 60 businesses — including furniture, jewelry, candy, natural gas and corporate jet firms.

Last year, Buffett’s company invested 3 billion Swiss francs ($2.6 billion) in another European reinsurance giant, Swiss Reinsurance Co. Berkshire has the option to convert that investment into conventional Swiss Re shares in 2012, and that, combined with the 3 percent of Swiss Re Berkshire already owns, could allow Berkshire to control roughly one-quarter of Swiss Re.

Speculation that Berkshire would take a stake in Munich Re had pushed its stock up in the past few days.

Munich Re shares were up nearly 1 percent at 109.55 euros ($155.07) in Frankfurt trading — one of few on the DAX index of blue-chip stocks that registered gains.

AP Business Writer Josh Funk contributed to this report from Omaha, Neb.