Marmon Group – Page 6

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

2014 was a busy year for Berkshire Hathaway, with over $5 billion in acquisitions both directly by Berkshire Hathaway and through its companies. I’m sure you heard about the purchase of Procter & Gamble’s Duracell battery division, but did you know that other acquisitions made Berkshire the leader in beverage dispensing, and got Berkshire into automobile retailing for the first time? Here is a list of some of the other lesser-known acquisitions. Did you miss any of them?

Marmon Retail & End User Technologies Acquires Cornelius, Inc.
Date: January 2014
What it is: Cornelius, Inc. is the world’s leading supplier of beverage dispensing and cooling equipment. They manufacture and market a broad line of beverage dispense solutions for soft drink, beer, ice, juice, tea, and frozen as well as a complete line of accessories.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Acquires MyAssist, Inc. from Noel Group
Date: January 2014
What it is: MyAssist is a technology-driven, cloud-based personal assistance solution that leverages advanced technologies to give customers a customized, personal experience. MyAssist provides Mercedes-Benz and Ford with live-agent personal-assistance and telematics service using “location-aware technology” from Verizon Communications Inc.

MiTek Acquires Ellis & Watts Global Industries
Date: April 2014
What it is: Ellis & Watts is the recognized leader in the engineering, design, and fabrication of highly customized HVAC and other products sold into the nuclear, military, and other industrial end markets.

EXSIF Worldwide, Inc. Buy’s OCS
Date: April 2014
What it is: OCS Limited is a tank rental and chemical supply company based in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. OCS operates in the offshore oil and gas sector, serving clients in the North Sea.

Berkshire Hathaway Acquires Van Tuyl Group
Date: April 2014
What it is: Van Tuyl Group is the nation’s largest privately-owned auto dealership group, which ranks fifth among all U.S. auto dealership groups.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Acquires AltaLink
Date: May 2014
What it is: AltaLink owns 12,000 kilometers of transmission lines and 280 substations that bring electricity to 3 million customers in Alberta, Canada.

Berkadia Acquires Keystone Commercial Capital
Date: May 2014
What it is: Keystone Capital is a full-service commercial mortgage banking company headquartered in Phoenix that services more than $2 billion in commercial real estate loans.

BH Media Acquires Catamaran Group
Date: September 2014
What it is: Catamaran Group publishes 12 weekly papers, with circulations ranging from 7,000 up to 15,000, serving the southern New Jersey shore area. While the individual circulations are small, the combined circulations exceed 111,000.

Lubrizol Acquires Warwick Chemicals
Date: November 2014
What it is: Warwick Chemicals is a leading global developer, producer and supplier of stain removal technology with hygiene benefits. Headquartered in Mostyn, North Wales, Warwick Chemicals has strong positions with global and regional detergent producers. Their products are an essential element in laundry detergent powders and automatic dishwashing products used across five continents and in more than 50 countries.

Lubrizol Acquires Engineered Chemistry and Integrity Industries
Date: December 2014
What it is: Engineered Chemistry supplies additives and fluids for a range of oilfield activities, including cementing, drilling, flow assurance and fracturing. It offers chemistry expertise to solve problems throughout the oil and gas drilling process. The business consists of a core manufacturing and research organization which supports a global field distribution network. Engineered Chemistry was built through a series of acquisitions over the past 12 years and is headquartered in Houston, TX. It operates 10 sites located predominantly in North America. Integrity Industries manufactures drilling fluid systems, including diesel, mineral oil and synthetic oil based fluids. The company supplies these drilling fluid systems to retail drilling fluid companies along with technical support.

Berkshire Hathaway Acquires Charter Brokerage
Date: December 2014
What it is: Charter Brokerage is a leading global trade services company providing complete customs, import, export, drawback and related services.

There you have it!

Bolt-On Acquisitions Continue to Power Berkshire’s Growth

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway has leapt to the forefront of the beverage dispensing business with the acquisition of Cornelius, Inc.

Cornelius manufactures a complete line of beverage dispensers that are used by leading food service and retail companies, including PepsiCo, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Yum, Starbucks, and Burger King.

On January 2, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway’s wholly owned Marmon Group closed on the $1.1 billion acquisition of Cornelius, acquiring the company from Birmingham, England-based IMI plc (LON: IMI).

Founded by Richard Cornelius in 1931 in the basement of his Minneapolis home, Cornelius began by making the first diaphragm- type compressor for dispensing beer. Today, the company is headquartered in Osseo, Minnesota, and is the world’s leading supplier of beverage dispensing and cooling equipment.

Cornelius has 4,500 employees, with manufacturing facilities in seven countries, spanning North America, Europe, and China.

Berkshire and Marmon

In 2007, Berkshire Hathaway acquired 60% of Marmon Group for $4.5 billion from the Pritzker Family of Chicago. At the time, Marmon was made up of 125 manufacturing and service businesses that all operated independently within diverse business sectors.

Berkshire has gradually increased its stake in Marmon even as Marmon has grown, and in 2013 it bought the remaining 20% share owned by the Pritzker Family.

Today, Marmon Group has 160 independent manufacturing and service businesses and employs 17,000 people worldwide.

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Marmon’s Revenue Growth

According to the 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report, “Marmon’s consolidated revenues in 2012 were $7.2 billion, an increase of 3.6% over 2011. Consolidated pre-tax earnings were $1.1 billion in 2012, an increase of 14.6% over 2011. In 2012 pre-tax earnings as a percentage of revenues were 15.9% compared to 14.3% in 2011.”

What does the future hold?

The acquisition of Cornelius is all part of the Marmon Group’s continued growth of its Marmon Food Service Equipment businesses, which include Prince Castle, a manufacturer of hot food holding bins, and Silver King, a maker of cold food storage units.

Berkshire and Food Service

One thing is clear, if you are in the fast food business, you are likely dealing with at least one Berkshire holding.

As IMI chief executive Martin Lamb told Bloomberg News “Marmon are in this space, they are buying it to build it, rather than make cuts.”

That buy-hold-build strategy is the heart of the Berkshire Hathaway philosophy.

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