Berkshire Hathaway plans to sell part of its stake in VeriSign, raising up to $1.25 billion

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is planning to sell about one-third of its stake in VeriSign Inc. (VRSN.US). This sale will lock in substantial gains for the investment company led by Warren Buffett, which began building its position in the domain registration service provider over a decade ago.

Insiders revealed that a subsidiary of Berkshire plans to sell 4.3 million shares of VeriSign at a price of $285 to $290 per share (VeriSign is headquartered in Reston, Virginia). A statement released on Monday indicated that the remaining shares held by Berkshire after the transaction will have a one-year lock-up period. Bloomberg estimates that this price range represents a discount of up to 6.9% compared to Monday's closing price.

As of the time of publication, VeriSign's stock price fell 7.1% in after-hours trading to $285 per share. Year-to-date, as of Monday's close, the stock has risen 47.8%, briefly touching an all-time high during intraday trading.

The aforementioned insiders stated that the stock sale is expected to be priced overnight. Representatives from Berkshire and VeriSign have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The prospectus shows that Berkshire's subsidiary has held shares in VeriSign since 2012, when the stock price peaked at $49.50 per share.

The prospectus also indicates that after this sale, Berkshire's beneficial ownership in VeriSign will decrease from 14.2% to 9.6%. Before the sale, Berkshire held nearly 13.3 million shares of VeriSign stock.

The statement indicated that JP Morgan will be responsible for the stock sale