OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett jokes that he can make a tailored suit look bad, but he apparently likes the looks of trendy clothing company Gap Inc.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Monday showed Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has spent $204 million on 8 million shares of the San Francisco-based clothing retailer.
Gap also markets clothes under the Banana Republic and Old Navy brand names.
The filing was made public after the SEC refused to allow Buffett to use a procedure he routinely employed in the past to delay disclosure of Berkshire holdings.
Two other Berkshire investments also were made public in the new filing. Berkshire invested $3.45 billion in the year ended Dec. 31 in San Francisco-based bank giant Wells Fargo and $181 million in electricity company GPU Inc. of Morristown, N.J.
Marc Hamburg, a vice president at Berkshire, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on the filings.
Buffett's 4.9 million shares in GPU equals about 4 percent of that company, GPU spokesman Ned Raynolds said.
"He's a smart investor, and we're glad he sees value in GPU stock," Raynolds said.
GPU plans to merge with Ohio-based First Energy.
Buffett also has invested heavily in MidAmerican Energy of Des Moines, Iowa.
Berkshire Hathaway owns or has holdings in such varied companies as Coca-Cola, The Washington Post, See's Candies and car insurer GEICO.