(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. pushed back against a media report that it held a stake in IRB Brasil Resseguros SA.

“Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is not currently a shareholder of IRB, it has never been a shareholder of IRB and it has no intention of becoming a shareholder of IRB,” Berkshire said Tuesday in a statement.

IRB had been targeted by short seller Squadra Investments, which alleged that the Brazilian reinsurer included one-offs in its recurring pretax income figures. IRB has fought back, accusing the asset manager of stock-price manipulation.

Local newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported last month that Berkshire had a stake in the company and was boosting its holding, a claim that Berkshire denied Tuesday.

“There have been recent stories in the Brazilian press that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a shareholder of IRB Brasil Re,” Berkshire said in the statement. “Those stories are incorrect.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Katherine Chiglinsky in New York at kchiglinsky@bloomberg.net;Vinícius Andrade in São Paulo at vandrade3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, David Scheer

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