Warren Buffett News: New Acquisition, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (DVA) Rumors & Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A)

Buffett Insurer Wrap Firms Up Detroit Debt (BondBuyer)
In the sea of junk-rated Detroit debt trading for 30 to 40 cents on the dollar, a small piece of the city’s defaulted pension certificates continue to see retail bids of nearly 90 cents on the dollar. The higher valued debt features an insurance pledge from Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp., the government bond insurer controlled by financier Warren Buffett. In late June, just four days after Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr announced the city would default on its pension certificates, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)-wrapped debt traded for just under 96 cents on the dollar, with a 6.3% yield.

Warren Buffett’s Secret to Giving Away Billions (Entrepreneur)
Warren Buffett always knew he’d be giving away a lot of money, and he always knew how he would do it: outsourcing. In a video clip for a new online course on philanthropy that starts today, Buffett says he follows the lead of Adam Smith’s division of labor. “I make it and somebody else gives it away.” One of the people he has entrusted with that task is his sister, Doris. Buffett says he’s the “wholesaler” and Doris is the “retailer” when it comes to charity. Her Sunshine Lady Foundation is associated with Learning By Giving, a foundation that “promotes the teaching of effective charitable giving” by supporting what it calls “academically rigorous full-credit courses with grants of $10,000 for each class to distribute to local nonprofit organizations.”

What’s Behind Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s Big DaVita Buy? (Minyanville)
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) currently sits atop its largest cash cache ever — $69 billion. So its not surprising that takeover rumors surfaced early this month when Berkshire added to its already hefty stake of about 13% in DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA). The $12 billion market cap behemoth provides kidney dialysis services to hospitals and dialysis centers throughout the US. However, the takeover rumors are just that – rumors, with little to back them up right now. In May of this year, the two companies reached a standstill agreement in which it was stipulated that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) could acquire no more than 25% of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA), and that Buffett’s firm will not propose any “business combination, merger, tender offer, exchange offer or similar transactions” without consent from DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA), according to Bloomberg.