US billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced he was buying a 60 percent stake in Marmon Holdings Inc, an industrial group owned by one of the richest families in the US, for US$4.5 billion.
Buffett's investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, will acquire the remaining 40 percent of Marmon over five to six years at a price to be based on the group's future performance, the two sides said in a statement on Tuesday.
Marmon, which has been owned by Chicago's Pritzker family since 1953, is a manufacturing and services group with more than 125 units whose products range from railroad tank cars to electrical wires and cables.
Marmon will make a "substantial distribution of cash and certain assets" to selling shareholders before the deal closes in the first quarter of next year, the statement said.
The group, which boasts an overall revenue of US$7 billion, employs about 21,000 people and operates more than 250 manufacturing, distribution and service facilities in Britain, Europe, North America and China.
Marmon's operating income more than tripled between 2002 and this year while operating margins increased from 4.9 percent to 12.4 percent during that same period.
The Wall Street Journal said Buffett's acquisition reflects "his fondness for unflashy businesses that deliver steady and strong cash flow and feature high barriers to entry."
Berkshire Hathaway already owns other industrial businesses, including Johns Manville, a building products company, and Iscar Metalworking, an Israeli tool maker, in which Berkshire took an 80 percent stake last year for US$4 billion, the paper said.
The deal with Buffett is part of the family's decision in 2001 to unwind its empire.
"This transaction is the culmination of a process that began six years ago," said Marmon chairman Tom Pritzker, whose father Jay acquired Marmon with his brother in 1953.
"Berkshire Hathaway's decision recognizes the fine work of our management team over this period and the transaction is being done in the context of the previously reported restructuring of our family business interests," he said in a statement.
In an interview with the Journal, Pritzker said Buffett's reputation for being a hands-off owner made him the ideal partner for the company.
"His philosophy is very consistent with our goals," Pritzker was quoted as saying.
In the statement, Buffett said the deal was quickly completed after he met with Marmon's current chief executive, Frank Ptak, and his predecessor, John Nichols.
"Our transaction was done just the way Jay would have liked it to be done -- no consultants or studies," Buffett said. "After meeting with Messrs. Ptak and Nichols, they were just what I expected from Marmon's impressive record of growth and profitability over the years, and the decision to purchase and work out the details of this transaction was done without delay."
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS