In addition, Berkshire may not be looking to buy a public stand-alone company at all.
Lucent, as a stand-alone company, now has a market capitalization of $32.4 billion.
If the utility were a stand-alone company and filed its own tax return, he added, the customer would pay the same for power.
"To me it's not clear that the pieces that will be left at the end make sense as a stand-alone company," she said.
"We are confident that Discover will be a strong stand-alone company."
Aera is operated as a stand-alone company through its board of directors.
The antitrust order means that Dofasco must operate like a stand-alone company.
In any event, analysts had expected the stand-alone company to be a takeover candidate.
Separate financial statements were being prepared for the main businesses with an eye toward selling them off as stand-alone companies.
The report was its last as a stand-alone company.
