Berkshire Hathaway, Haslam family settle lawsuits over Pilot truck stop buyout

The trial over a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by the Haslam family last year alleging Berkshire Hathaway violated terms of its buyout of the Pilot truck stop chain was called off just before it was set to begin Jan. 8 in Delaware.

A notice on the Chancery Court’s docket for the case, posted the night of Jan. 6, said, “The trial scheduled in this matter for January 8 and 9, 2024, is hereby canceled and has been removed from the Court’s calendar," CNBC reported.

On Jan. 7, Berkshire and Pilot Corporation released similar press statements, saying they had reached an agreement to fully settle the Delaware Chancery case. including “the dismissal of all claims and counterclaims, between Pilot Corporation and Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Pilot Travel Centers LLC, and National Indemnity Company."

The dispute over the price Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway must pay for the family's remaining stake in the Pilot Company truck stop chain included a counter-suit, with Berkshire Hathaway accusing Pilot chairman Jimmy Haslam of promising secret payments to staff that would inflate the price Berkshire would have to pay.

While those claims are no longer in civil court, Bloomberg News previously reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan were investigating whether Jimmy Haslam offered those payments.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York were reviewing the alleged payments in a probe that was disclosed at a prior court hearing in the civil lawsuit between Haslam and Berkshire.

What the Haslam family said Warren Buffett's company was doing to lower the Pilot price

The Haslam family's lawsuit alleged Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway were trying to artificially depress the price the company is obligated to pay for the family’s remaining 20% stake in the Pilot Travel Centers truck stop chain that Jim Haslam founded.

Berkshire has paid nearly $11 billion since 2017 for 80% of Pilot, which is headquartered in Knoxville. The nation’s largest network of truck stops has more than 850 locations and roughly 30,000 employees in the United States and Canada.

The Haslam family includes Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.

Jimmy Haslam had been expected to testify in the case. A spokesperson for Pilot Corp. declined to comment beyond the press statement released Jan. 7.

Berkshire Hathaway alleged the Haslams made side deals to inflate short-term profit

Berkshire's countersuit sought an injunction blocking the Haslams from exercising their option in 2024 or distorting Pilot's results through unauthorized payments to employees, according to reporting from Reuters.

In its countersuit, Berkshire said it learned Jimmy Haslam had devised a plan as early as March 2023 to secretly promise "massive side payments" to high-level Pilot employees in order to inflate short-term profit.

Liz Kellar is a Knox News-based Tennessee Connect reporter. Email liz.kellar@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Haslam family settles Berkshire Hathaway suit about Pilot valuation