(Bloomberg) ? Warren Buffett?s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 5 million shares of Tyco International Ltd., the world?s biggest maker of electronic connectors, after the stock had dropped 18 percent this year, a state filing showed.

Berkshire paid $151.3 million for the shares on June 29, according to a filing with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The stock has slid 4.7 percent since.

Berkshire, built on Buffett?s strategy of buying out-of- favour assets, purchased the stock two months after Bermuda-based Tyco cut its 2005 earnings forecast to reflect increased commodity costs.

The company, facing slowing sales of circuit boards, lowered expectations again in August.

The shares rose 93 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $28.03 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday.

?We think it?s a solid value and we?re glad to see others agree,? Tyco spokeswoman Sheri Woodruff said.

Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco?s former chief executive, and Mark Swartz, its former chief financial officer, were found guilty in June of taking $137 million in unauthorised compensation and making more than $410 million from sales of inflated shares. Kozlowski was forced out in June 2002, and Swartz left the company in September of that year.

Berkshire is required to file its quarterly holdings report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission next week. Marc Hamburg, chief financial officer for the Omaha, Nebraska-based company, declined to comment.

The purchase was made by Berkshire?s Geico Corp. auto insurance unit, whose funds are managed by Louis Simpson.

Geico also bought 1 million shares of Lexmark International Inc., the US?s second-biggest maker of printers, 945,000 shares of Home Depot Inc., the world?s biggest home-improvement chain, and 2.8 million shares of Kingfisher Plc, the world?s third- largest home-improvement retailer.

Berkshire didn?t report holdings in any of the companies in its first-quarter report to the SEC. In the past, the securities regulator has allowed the company to keep some information confidential.