Buffett's Berkshire sells 1/5th of Ameriprise

NEW YORK, Mar 30 (Reuters) Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold about one-fifth of its investment in financial planning company Ameriprise Financial Inc., but plans to keep its remaining 9.8 pct stake ''for the foreseeable future,'' Ameriprise said on Wednesday.

Ameriprise, which American Express Co. spun off last September, also said its board of directors authorised the repurchase of up to 0 million of stock by March 2008, in addition to a maximum 2 million shares available for repurchase this year.

Minneapolis-based Ameriprise said it bought 6.4 million shares for 4.6 million, or .91 each, from Berkshire, the Omaha, Nebraska insurance and investment company that Buffett controls.

Berkshire obtained that stake in the Sept. 30 spinoff, which took the form of a tax-free dividend to shareholders of American Express, the credit card and travel services company.

As of Dec. 31, Berkshire owned a 12.2 per cent stake in American Express, worth .8 billion.

Ameriprise is an asset manager and brokerage with more than 12,000 financial advisers.

''Warren E. Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway have confirmed that they have no current intention to reduce their equity ownership further and have agreed that they will not take action to reduce their ownership percentage below 9.8 per cent of Ameriprise's common stock for the foreseeable future,'' Ameriprise said.

Ameriprise shares fell 22 cents to close at .91 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

REUTERS SD SSC1611