"Buffett Says $550 Million Wesco Deal May Be Disadvantageous to Berkshire" is the headline over a Bloomberg News article about the sage of Omaha's claim, in response to an effort by a Wesco director to get Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to up its bid for the 19.9% of Wesco it doesn't already own, "We regard the transaction as disadvantageous to Berkshire if a substantial number of Wesco shareholders elect to take Berkshire stock."
If Mr. Buffett really thinks this will be a disadvantageous deal for Berkshire, he owes it to his shareholders not to do it, or to structure it as an all-cash deal rather than one in which Berkshire shares are on offer. Otherwise it just looks like some kind of favor to Wesco's Charlie Munger, or, if Wesco is indeed underpriced, a favor from Mr. Munger to Mr. Buffett. Mr. Buffett is basically on both sides of the deal. If he's so concerned it's disadvantageous, no one is forcing him to do it. Maybe he's worried some other bidder is going to emerge for the 19.9% of Wesco and wants to scare that other bidder away? Or else he's just saying it will be disadvantageous to avoid paying more than he wants to, even though he doesn't actually believe it will be disadvantageous.