Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, has agreed to buy Lubrizol Corp., the world's leading producer of lubricant additives, at about 9 billion U.S. dollars, according to a statement released on Monday by the company.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said that it would pay 135 dollars a share in cash, 28 percent more than Lubrizol's closing price on March 11. Moreover, the purchase also includes an additional 700 million dollars of net debt.

The is Buffett's second-largest purchase in the past five years after buying Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad at approximately 26.3 billion dollars in 2009.

"Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner -- the global leader in several market applications run by a talented chief executive officer, James Hambrick," said Buffett in the statement.

Buffett told investors last month that he would pursue bigger acquisitions this year by using his 38 billion dollars pile of cash.

Berkshire and Lubrizol said they expected the purchase to be completed in the third quarter. Lubrizol will operate as a subsidiary of Berkshire and remain based in Wickliffe, Ohio.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet