The Occidental Petroleum Headquarters in Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images New York —

Berkshire Hathaway, the Warren Buffett-owned conglomerate, has announced its biggest deal in three years with the planned acquisition of OxyChem for $9.7 billion.

This will be Buffett’s biggest deal since he paid $11.6 billion for Alleghany, an insurance company, in 2022. Buffett, 95, recently announced he was stepping down as CEO at the end of the year.

OxyChem is the chemical business of Occidental, in which Buffett is a major investor . About $6.5 billion of the all-cash deal announced Thursday will be used to pay down Occidental’s debt, which has ballooned to more than $20 billion.

According to its website , OxyChem makes a variety of chemicals that are used in IV bags, swimming po

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