A Delaware judge has announced her willingness to grant a January trial request made by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, under certain conditions, to settle allegations that billionaire Jimmy Haslam attempted to improperly inflate his stake in a truck stop chain.
Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn of Delaware’s Court of Chancery issued a ruling on Friday, citing efficiency as a reason to consider Berkshire’s claims alongside a January 8-9 trial regarding accusations by the Haslam family that Berkshire was devaluing Pilot Travel Centers, the nation’s largest truck stop chain.
The dispute revolves around the amount Berkshire would be required to pay if the Haslam family, which includes Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, were to exercise their option to sell their 20% stake in the truck stop chain to Berkshire within the first two months of 2024.
Zurn has given Berkshire until 9 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday to decide whether it will accept a January trial on the condition that the discovery process would be limited to what is essential for defending against the Haslam family’s lawsuit.
As of now, an attorney for Berkshire has not provided an immediate response to requests for comments, while an attorney for the Haslam family has declined to comment on the matter.
Berkshire has expressed concerns that its interests could be irreparably harmed if the case is not resolved before the Haslams exercise their option to sell their stake.
Berkshire currently holds an 80% stake in Pilot, having acquired a 38.6% stake for $2.76 billion in 2017 and another 41.4% for $8.2 billion in January.
Both parties have accused each other of attempting to manipulate Pilot’s earnings, which serves as the basis for valuing the stake.
The Haslams filed a lawsuit against Berkshire in October, alleging that the company was seeking an undue “windfall” through the adoption of “pushdown” accounting for Pilot.
In response, Berkshire countersued on November 28, alleging that Jimmy Haslam had attempted to offer millions of dollars in bribes to Pilot executives to inflate earnings in 2023 at the expense of future years.
According to court documents, the Haslams believe that the 20% Pilot stake was worth $3.2 billion before Berkshire’s accounting change, a valuation that Berkshire disputes.
Pilot is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and boasts approximately 800 locations.
Berkshire Hathaway’s diverse portfolio includes ownership of numerous other businesses, such as the BNSF railroad and Geico car insurer.