By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The FBI is looking into
possible insider trading in the options of ketchup maker H.J.
Heinz Co before its blockbuster deal last week to be acquired by
Warren Buffett and Brazil's 3G Capital, a bureau spokesman said
on Tuesday.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G said last Thursday they
would buy Heinz for $23 billion in cash. Almost immediately,
options market players noted there had been extremely unusual
activity the day before the deal was announced.
On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed
a suit against unknown traders who it said used a Goldman Sachs
account in Switzerland to trade on purported inside
knowledge of the transaction.
On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was
joining in as well.
"The FBI is aware of the trading anomalies the day before
Heinz' announcement," a spokesman said. "The FBI is consulting
with the SEC to determine if a crime was committed."
A spokeswoman for the investor group declined to comment on
the FBI's involvement. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs said the
bank is cooperating with authorities' investigations.
Swiss authorities have already said they have not been asked
to help with the U.S. investigation.
The SEC enforcement action marked the second time in six
months regulators had taken aim at alleged insider trading in a
deal involving 3G. The first instance, last September, involved
a stockbroker trading on inside information related to 3G's 2010
purchase of Burger King.
(Additional reporting by Ben Berkowitz and Dan Wilchins)
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