The purchase eclipses Berkshire’s $26.5 billion takeover in 2010 of the 77.4 percent of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad that it did not already own.

While that would leave Berkshire with more than $40 billion of cash, twice the cushion Buffett wants, Buffett said it would be at least a year before Berkshire could pursue another “elephant” size transaction.

In July, Precision Castparts did not meet estimates of Wall Street on fiscal quarter ending June.

“The market took their cues from China overnight and the Berkshire deal in another factor driving investor sentiment [on Monday]”, said Aaron Clark, a portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management. (NYSE: BA) and Airbus, the acquisition gives Buffett another hook into the transportation sector without a direct investment in either an airline or an aircraft manufacturer. His amassing of a vast personal wealth – $72.7 billion by Forbes’ last count – has made him the pin-up for aspiration and at 84 the Nebraskan native is showing no signs of slowing down.

And this plan was vital to Buffett, who said he would never have gone ahead with the deal if he was not “100 percent sure” that Donegan would be in charge for a long time to come.

Precision Castparts will maintain its headquarters in Portland, Oregon, the companies said in a joint statement.

Precision Castparts, which is based out of Portland, Ore., has approximately 29,350 employees at 157 manufacturing facilities.

Buffett in buying Precision is taking a company that has grown increasingly frustrated with public markets out of public hands.

“His selection field is extremely limited”, Morgan said. He said that when Berkshire CEO Warren Buffet acquires a company, most of the infrastructure stays intact. The company makes components such as nuts and bolts for aerospace companies, but also components for industrial gas turbines.

Mallinckrodt PLC said Monday that it would buy privately held immunotherapy company Therakos Inc. for about $1.325 billion, the latest deal for the acquisitive pharmaceutical company.

Berkshire Hathaway shelled out $235 a share, paying a 21 percent premium on the closing price Friday.

We expect this transaction to have a positive impact on our valuation for Berkshire, which did not use any stock or debt to fund the deal and has been earning next to nothing on its $60 billion-plus cash hoard.