Berkshire sets vote date for BNSF takeover

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It wants shareholders to approve a split of its Class B shares.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday set a January 20 shareholder vote on a stock split related to the company's planned $26.4 billion takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Berkshire is asking shareholders to approve a 50-for-1 split of its Class B shares, which closed Thursday at $3,291.

Buffett has said a split will make it easier for shareholders of the second-largest U.S. railroad operator to swap their shares for Berkshire stock when the merger closes, which is expected in the first quarter of 2010.

In a regulatory filing, Berkshire also asked shareholders to approve several related proposals, including authorization to increase the number of its shares outstanding. Shareholders of record as of November 30 are entitled to vote.

As of November 30, there were 1.06 million Berkshire Class A shares and 14.87 million Class B shares.

A split would increase the number of Class B shares to about 743 million. A Class B share is now worth roughly one-thirtieth of a Class A share.

The shareholder meeting will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire is based. Burlington Northern is based in Fort Worth, Texas. Berkshire now owns 22.6 percent of the company.

A stock split increases the number of shares and reduces the share price. It does not change a company's market value, yet can increase liquidity and lead to a higher share price because it allows smaller investors to buy more stock.

Buffett himself controls 31.6 percent of the voting power of Berkshire stock.