UPDATE 1-Fitch may cut Berkshire rating on Burlington buy

(Adds details, share price)

NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings said on Thursday it may cut its ratings on Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)BRKb,N on concerns about the effect its planned acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N) will have on its asset profile and capitalization.

Fitch said it may cut Berkshire from AA-plus, the second-highest investment grade.

The move comes a day after Standard & Poor's said it may cut Berkshire from its top AAA rating.

The acquisition of Burlington and other utilities, energy and finance company subsidiaries would shift Berkshire's asset profile to have a higher concentration in companies that have more leverage, Fitch said.

Many of the companies are also more sensitive to general economic conditions than Berkshire's long-held insurance and holding company equity-oriented investments, the rating agency added.

Berkshire said on Tuesday it agreed to pay $26 billion in cash and stock to buy Burlington in a bet the railroad operator will benefit from a recovering U.S. economy. For details, see [ID:nN03483590]

The acquisition will be funded by around $8 billion in additional debt in addition to Berkshire's assumption of about $10 billion in Burlington debt, Fitch said.

This will cause a meaningful increase in Berkshire's leverage, Fitch said.