Rather than wait for yesterday's annual meeting, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc announced a multibillion-dollar acquisition a day earlier.
Berkshire said Friday it will acquire an 80 percent stake in privately held Iscar Metalworking Cos, which makes metal cutting tools, in a deal that values Iscar at US$5 billion. The company's current owners, the Wertheimer family, will retain 20 percent ownership.
A news release on the deal did not say what Berkshire will pay for its stake in Iscar, but the deal appears to be the third-largest in Berkshire's history, behind the US$5.1 billion acquisition of utility PacifiCorp announced last year and the US$16 billion stock purchase of reinsurance giant General Re in 1998.
Investors had been speculating that Buffett might announce an acquisition at yesterday's meeting, because Berkshire has been flush with more than US$40 billion in cash, and Buffett has said he was looking for the right opportunity.
Iscar's current management team will remain in place, as is customary when Berkshire buys companies. Iscar has facilities worldwide, with the largest located in Tefen, Israel.
"We are delighted to partner with the Wertheimer family and IMC's current management, led by Eitan Wertheimer and Jacob Harpaz," Buffett said in a statement. "As a truly international business, IMC is a top performer in its industry, with exposure to European, Asian and Latin American markets, as well as significant opportunities for growth as it continues to penetrate the North American market."
Berkshire spokeswoman Debbie Bosanek said no one was available to discuss the acquisition, because company officials are preparing for the annual meeting, which is expected to draw a record crowd of about 23,000 people.
The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
The Iscar investment will increase Berkshire's international exposure. In recent years, Berkshire has taken a short position on the dollar, essentially betting on a decline in the US currency.
Berkshire owns a mix of companies including furniture, insurance, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms, and it has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co, Anheuser-Busch Cos and Wells Fargo & Co.
Iscar chairman Eitan Wertheimer and president and chief executive Jacob Harpaz said they were glad their company will be joining the Berkshire family.
"This acquisition ties the knot between Berkshire Hathaway, one of America's outstanding businesses, and IMC, an extraordinary industrial company with a truly global reach, and a presence in the world's most dynamic regions and economies," Jacob Harpaz said in a statement. "We believe that our partnership with Berkshire will further strengthen our position in the North American market and worldwide, and allow us to continue the phenomenal growth that we have experienced over the past 50 years."
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS