Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to pay $896,000 to settle US allegations that it violated antitrust reporting requirements when it purchased an equity stake in USG Corp.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission said that Berkshire Hathaway failed to notify regulators regarding the conversion of $325 million of senior USG notes it held into 21.4 million shares of the company.
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The converted USG convertible notes into shares in December 2013 gave Berkshire about 28% of USG voting securities, valued at more than $950 million.
The Justice Department filed the suit alleging Berkshire violated filing rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976.
The law requires companies to inform federal officials of pending transactions of a certain size and requires waiting periods so that agencies can conduct antitrust reviews.
Additionally, the Justice Department filed a proposed settlement in US District Court in Washington, D.C., which is subject to the court’s approval.
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By GlobalDataThe company has agreed to pay the maximum penalty of $16,000 a day for violating of the reporting rules.
