Dive Brief:
- Holding company Berkshire Hathaway has acquired the remaining 20% interest in Pilot Company from the Haslam family, which founded the travel center chain in 1958, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- This marks the final step in a series of ownership transfers between the two companies that began when Berkshire acquired a 38.6% stake in Pilot in 2017. At the time, the Haslam family retained about a 50.1% ownership stake in Pilot, but agreed that Berkshire would become majority owner by acquiring an additional 41.4% in 2023, leaving the Haslams with 20%.
- The deal comes 10 days after Berkshire and the Haslam family settled a lawsuit that saw the companies accuse each other of accounting tricks meant to manipulate Pilot’s sale price.
Dive Insight:
Tuesday’s agreement closes the door on a tumultuous, monthslong back and forth between Berkshire and the Haslam family.
The deal made in 2017 gave the Haslams an annual 60-day window to sell its remaining 20% in Pilot, with that sale price based on Pilot’s earnings from the previous year. But late last year, the Haslams accused Berkshire of tweaking their accounting practices to deflate the sale price, while Berkshire accused Pilot chairman Jimmy Haslam of attempting to bribe Pilot employees with payments to spike the sale price.
Berkshire and the Haslams reached a settlement on Jan. 7. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
After Tuesday’s agreement, Berkshire officially owns 100% of Pilot.
"While this has certainly been an emotional decision for us, it is one we felt was right for our family at this time,” Jim Haslam II, Pilot’s founder, said in the announcement. “We look forward to continuing to support our life-long home of Knoxville, Tennessee, and to furthering our deep commitment and philanthropy throughout the region that we all love."
Knoxville, Tennessee-based Pilot operates more than 870 travel centers across 44 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces.
