Business briefs: Berkshire | Wheatley Group | McClure

WARREN Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm has bought stakes in Suncor Energy, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, and satellite television company Dish Network.

Berkshire took a stake worth $524 million (£337m) in Suncor, which is a major player in Alberta’s oil sands, and a $23.3m holding in Dish, which is run by billionaire Charlie Ergen, according to filings made to the United States’ Securities & Exchange Commission.

The firm’s holdings are closely watched by investors who try to copy Buffett. Stocks in which the “Sage of Omaha” invests often see rising demand.

• Social housing and regeneration firm Wheatley Group has added three executives to its senior management team.

Olga Clayton joins from North Ayrshire Council to take up the new position of director of housing and care later this month, while West Dunbartonshire Council housing exec Elaine Melrose will become Wheatley’s new director of resources in September. New director of finance Steven Henderson previously worked for the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg.

• Lawyers working at McClure Naismith’s funds group have advised on deals worth in excess of £100 million in the first quarter of firm’s latest financial year.

The work, primarily for clients of LaSalle Investment Management, follows a record year for the funds arm which has pointed to growing confidence and investor activity in the commercial property market. The group has acted in the acquisition of 4/5 Lochside Avenue, Edinburgh, the Livingston Designer Outlet and the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes.

• Jaguar is recalling 2,929 cars in the US for two issues, one having to do with possible vehicle stalling and the other for power windows that could pinch.

The Indian-owned carmaker said it would recall 940 XF models for possible stalling issues because a hose clamp for the charge air cooler could detach. It is also recalling 1,989 XK convertibles because the windows may inadvertently be activated and pinch or injure an arm. Jaguar said there was one slow-speed accident related to the hose recall and none related to the window recall.