Warren Buffett News: Third Wealthiest Person, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (DVA)’s Gain & Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A)

VHI plans efficiency drive to halt runaway premiums (Independent)
VHI, which did a landmark deal last week with legendary US investor Warren Buffett, now plans to drive through major efficiencies to reduce premium prices for cash-strapped consumers. …Mr O’Dwyer said the €700m reinsurance deal with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) helps this mission. He said negotiations with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) for a further underwriting contract are under way. “The next challenge is to make it a longer-term deal. We are in positive discussions for a longer-term deal,” he said. Mr Buffett is already being tipped in insurance industry circles as a potential buyer of VHI if the State ever decides to put it on the market.

Buffett now third richest person as he overtakes Zara billionaire (Independent)
WARREN Buffett, “the sage of Omaha”, regained his spot as one of the world’s top three richest people just weeks before signing the momentous deal with VHI revealed by the Irish Independent on Tuesday. The 82-year-old American investor, who has signed a €700m re-insurance deal with the country’s largest health insurer, only recovered his title as the third wealthiest person on earth in May of this year. He had ceded it to Spanish retail tycoon Amancio Ortega last August. Buoyed by 49pc growth in fourth-quarter profit, shares of his multi-national conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) rallied 14pc in the first five months of 2013.