Shares of domain name registry operator Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) fell 8.5% in the morning session after news that major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway sold a significant portion of its stake in the company at a discount.

VeriSign, based in Reston, Virginia, said the sale of 4.3 million shares was intended to reduce Berkshire's stake to below 10%, a threshold that triggers regulatory obligations. Berkshire may sell an additional 515,032 shares to meet demand. VeriSign will receive no proceeds from the sale.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) saw its stock fall 6.5% in pre-market trading following Berkshire Hathaway’s announcement of a secondary offering of 4.3 million VeriSign shares priced at $285.00 each. The offering is priced at a notable discount to VeriSign’s previous closing price of $305.

VeriSign shares dropped after the company released the pricing of its previously announced underwritten secondary offering of its common stock by affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway. Shares were down 7% at $284.72 on Tuesday. The stock has been down 1.6% this month.

BERKSHIRE Hathaway sold about one-third of its stake in VeriSign, an internet infrastructure and domain name registry company that Warren Buffett’s conglomerate has invested in since 2012, VeriSign said on Monday.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) (the "Company"), a global provider of critical internet infrastructure and domain name registry services, today announced the launch of an underwritten secondary offering (the "Offering") by affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

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