The Haslam family on Sunday settled its billion-dollar lawsuit against Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns Pilot Co., a day before a two-day trial was set to begin over how Berkshire accounted for the value of Pilot stores.
The lawsuit, filed in October, accused the conglomerate of using improper accounting to devalue the Haslams’ remaining 20% stake in the Knoxville, Tennessee-based travel center company. This would have “led to a sharply lower price Berkshire would pay to acquire the family’s remaining 20% stake in PTC [Pilot Travel Centers],” according to CNBC.
The companies did not disclose the details of the settlement. The trial would have been held in Delaware Chancery Court.
Pilot released a statement saying that on behalf of the company and the Haslam family, it’s “pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to fully settle the Delaware litigation between the company and Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Pilot Travel Centers LLC, and National Indemnity Co., including the dismissal of all claims and counterclaims against each other.”
Berkshire Hathaway released a similar statement.
The counterclaim is in reference to Berkshire Hathaway in November countersuing, accusing billionaire Jimmy Haslam, who also owns the Cleveland Browns, of “promising secret payments to staff that would inflate the price Berkshire would have to pay for the Haslam family's 20% stake in truckstop operator Pilot Travel Centers,” according to Reuters.
The Haslam family in 2017 sold 38.6% of Pilot to Berkshire Hathaway for $2.8 billion and, in January 2023, 41.4% more for $8.2 billion, according to Reuters. The family “said it has a right to sell the remainder under the same valuation methods on Jan. 1, 2024.”
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