Berkshire buys nearly 10 pct stake in Axalta for $560M
By The Associated Press, Associated Press
Apr 7, 2015 7:26 AM CDT

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is paying $560 million for a nearly 10 percent stake in Axalta Coating Systems, which has seen its stock rise more than 36 percent since it went public last fall.

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. makes high performance coating systems for use on vehicles and in industrial markets.

Berkshire will pay $28 each to buy 20 million shares of Axalta from the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, which will still hold a 45 percent stake in the Philadelphia company after the sale. The stock closed at $28.33 on Monday.

Carlyle Group took the company public last November with an initial public offering of 50 million shares. The stock closed at $20.75 on its first trading day.

Axalta shares are up 4 percent in premarket trading.