(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. quashed a report that it is in talks to buy bankrupt California utility PG&E Corp.
The utility jumped in early morning trading after SparkSpread reported the legendary investor was eyeing the power supplier brought low by California wildfire liabilities. The utility gained as much as 17 percent in New York pre-market trading before receding to a 3.3 percent gain at 9:19 a.m.
PG&E, which went into bankruptcy in January, has a market value of $11.4 billion. Jessi Strawn, a spokeswoman for Berkshire Hathaway's energy unit, said by telephone that the companies were not in talks. A PG&E spokeswoman said the company does not comment on "market rumor and speculation."
Earlier, CNBC reported that the two companies weren't talking, citing a call with Buffett.
--With assistance from Brian Eckhouse.
To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Chiglinsky in New York at kchiglinsky@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Reg Gale
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