Berkshire and its subsidiaries hold investments in certain businesses that are accounted for pursuant to the equity method. Currently, the most significant of these is our investment in the common stock of The Kraft Heinz Company (“Kraft Heinz”). Kraft Heinz is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and marketers of food and beverage products, including condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee and other grocery products.

Berkshire currently owns 325,442,152 shares of Kraft Heinz common stock representing 26.7% of the outstanding shares. Shares of Kraft Heinz common stock are publicly-traded and the fair value of our investment was approximately $10.1 billion at June 30, 2019 and $14.0 billion at December 31, 2018. The carrying value of our investment was approximately $13.5 billion at June 30, 2019 and $13.8 billion at December 31, 2018.

In June 2019, Kraft Heinz filed its 2018 Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflected the restatement of financial statements of prior periods. The net effect of these restatements produced a $34 million reduction to the carrying value of our investment.

As of August 3, 2019, Kraft Heinz’s financial statements for the first and second quarters of 2019 were not yet available to Berkshire. Accordingly, Berkshire’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the second quarter and first six months of 2019 exclude its share of the earnings and other comprehensive income of Kraft Heinz for those periods. Berkshire intends to record its share of Kraft Heinz’s earnings and other comprehensive income for the first six months of 2019 during the period that such information becomes available. During the six-month period ending June 30, 2018, we recorded equity method earnings of $467 million. Dividends received from Kraft Heinz were $260 million and $407 million in the first six months of 2019 and 2018, respectively, which we recorded as reductions of our investment.

We evaluated our investment in Kraft Heinz for impairment as of June 30, 2019. Based on the available facts and information, the length of time that fair value was less than carrying value and our ability and intent to hold the investment until recovery, we concluded that recognition of an impairment loss in earnings at June 30, 2019 was not required. However, we will continue to monitor this investment and it is possible that an impairment loss in earnings will be recorded in future periods based on changes in facts and circumstances or intentions.

Summarized consolidated financial information of Kraft Heinz as of December 29, 2018 and for the second quarter and first six months of 2018 follows (in millions).

December 29,

2018

Assets

103,461

Liabilities

51,683

	Second Quarter		First Six Months
	2018		2018
Sales	$	6,690	$	12,994
Net earnings attributable to Kraft Heinz common shareholders	$	754	$	1,757

Other investments accounted for pursuant to the equity method include our investments in Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (“Berkadia”), Pilot Travel Centers LLC, d/b/a Pilot Flying J (“Pilot Flying J”), and Electric Transmission Texas, LLC (“ETT”). The carrying value of our investments in these entities was approximately $3.7 billion as of June 30, 2019 and $3.5 billion as of December 31, 2018. Our equity method earnings in these entities in the first six months were $314 million in 2019 and $261 million in 2018. Additional information concerning these investments follows.

We own a 50% interest in Berkadia, with Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (“Jefferies”) owning the other 50% interest. Berkadia is a servicer of commercial real estate loans in the U.S., performing primary, master and special servicing functions for U.S. government agency programs, commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. A source of funding for Berkadia’s operations is through its issuance of commercial paper, which is currently limited to $1.5 billion. On June 30, 2019, Berkadia’s commercial paper outstanding was $1.47 billion. The commercial paper is supported by a surety policy issued by a Berkshire insurance subsidiary. Jefferies is obligated to indemnify us for one-half of any losses incurred under the policy. In addition, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company subsidiary owns a 50% interest in ETT, an owner and operator of electric transmission assets in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas footprint. American Electric Power owns the other 50% interest.

On October 3, 2017, we entered into an investment agreement and an equity purchase agreement whereby we acquired a 38.6% interest in Pilot Flying J, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pilot Flying J is one of the largest operators of travel centers in North America, with more than 28,000 team members, 750 locations across the U.S. and Canada, and nearly $30 billion in annual revenues. The Haslam family currently owns a 50.1% interest in Pilot Flying J and a third party owns the remaining 11.3% interest. We also entered into an agreement to acquire in 2023 an additional 41.4% interest in Pilot Flying J with the Haslam family retaining a 20% interest. As a result, Berkshire will become the majority owner of Pilot Flying J in 2023.