Tesco Turmoil: Buffett Sells 245m Shares

The billionare investor who previously labelled his investment in Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) a "huge mistake" has sold another big tranche of shares.

Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway (Sao Paolo: BERK34.SA - news) investment vehicle had built a stake of around 5% in the supermarket chain since 2006, took it down to less than 3% in the latest sale giving him a holding currently valued at £420m.

The announcement - made in a regulatory filing - follows a horrific year for Britain's biggest retailer.

Tesco's shares have slumped 50% since February after a series of profit warnings and last month's revelation that it had overstated its profits estimate to the City by as much as £250m.

Eight senior executives have been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation which is examining how it logs suppliers' rebates and if they were reported in the correct accounting period.

The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is also conducting its own probe .

At the same time, Tesco's UK market dominance has been under attack from hard discounters.

Chains such as Aldi and Lidl have eaten away at the market shares previous enjoyed by Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's .

Of the 'big four' only Asda has managed to maintain and improve its position.

Tesco, which took its eye off the ball in the UK amid a failed bid to crack America, announced a series of measures including store revamps and improved staffing to bolster the customer experience.

But its continuing struggles saw the departure of chief executive Philip Clarke in the summer.

His replacement, Dave Lewis, is working on turning around the chain's fortunes with a new finance chief though eight key executives are currently away from their desks.