Categories
Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

BYD Creates Joint Venture to Manufacture & Recycle EV Batteries

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

China’s BYD has formed a strategic cooperation agreement with Changan Automobile to produce batteries for electric vehicles.

The companies will manufacture up to 10 GWh of batteries, and have also announced that they will research autonomous driving and various new energy vehicle technologies.

BYD and Changan plan for the total battery production capacity of 10GWh to be reached in two stages. The first will reach 5-6GWh and the second stage 4-5GWh.

They will also work together to recycle EV batteries.

Changan, headquartered in Chongqing, China, is a state-owned enterprise that manufactures passenger cars, microvans, commercial vans and light trucks.

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million has grown in value almost ten-fold, and is now worth roughly $1.96 billion.

For More on BYD, read the Special Report: BYD, Berkshire’s Tesla.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Acquisitions TTI

TTI Acquires Compona AG of Switzerland

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway’s TTI, Inc. has acquired privately held Compona AG of Switzerland and the company’s German subsidiary Cosy Electronics GmbH.

Both Compona and Cosy are specialty distributors of interconnect products and provide services such as in-house assembly of specific connector ranges and full support on custom cable harnesses. The Compona Group is well known for their technical expertise, consistent quality and on-time delivery. Compona CEO, Riet Morell, will continue to lead Compona AG reporting to Glyn Dennehy, TTI President, EMEA.

The combined revenue and market share of TTI and Compona will create the largest specialty distributorship of interconnect, passive and electromechanical products in Switzerland. Cosy GmbH will expand the TTI footprint in Germany while also enhancing value added capabilities and technical expertise. In the face of increasing international competition, Compona’s business will benefit from TTI’s broad and deep stocking strategy and global warehouse network.

Dennehy said of the acquisition, ““We are proud to be bringing Compona and Cosy’s experienced and talented team, plus their high quality and specialist supplier line card, into the TTI Family of Companies and welcome the opportunity to enhance their already preferred status with their customer base.”

Urs Horat, founder and former owner of Compona AG, describes the acquisition as a perfect match. “After succession could not be found within the family and company, solutions were sought externally. We wanted to find a new owner who respects the values of the founders, appreciates the employees and supports the business in the long term. With TTI, we have found an internationally highly successful company that wants to continue to maintain the Compona brand, help to secure the future and to further expand its business.” Horat continued. “No changes are expected for employees and customers. The management team under CEO Riet Morell also remains unchanged.”

Paul Andrews, TTI Founder and Chief Executive Officer, welcomed his new associates, “It is a special occurrence when one family-founded business is able to offer another the next chapter for their employees and customers – we welcome the fine employees and customers of Compona and Cosy to the TTI and Berkshire Hathaway family.”

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

Oslo Goes Big for BYD’s Articulated Buses

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

The streets of Oslo, Norway will soon have a large fleet of BYD’s 18-meter pure electric articulated buses running high traffic routes.

Nobina AB, the largest bus transport group in the Nordic region, has ordered 42 buses from BYD with scheduled delivery in the second quarter of 2019.

Two of BYD’s articulated buses have already been in service on route 31 and 31E, which are Norway’s heaviest duty routes, carrying roughly 50,000 passengers a day.

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million has grown in value almost ten-fold, and is now worth roughly $1.96 billion.

For More on BYD, read the Special Report: BYD, Berkshire’s Tesla.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Laffey Fine Homes International Looks to Open New Offices & Triple Agents After Joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Luxury home sellers Laffey Fine Homes International will join Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices as of July 11. The company will operate as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty.

The brokerage, a full-service real estate company, remains independently owned and operated by local real estate leaders Emmett Laffey, Gregory Berkowitz and John Schoonmaker. It is a premier luxury brokerage on Long Island’s North Shore with operations extending from Montauk to Manhattan. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has grown to nearly 46,000 agents and 1,400 offices since its founding in September 2013. The network was recently named “Real Estate Agency Brand of Year” and “Most Trusted Real Estate Brand” in the 2018 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study.

“We are thrilled to bring the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand to our customers and clients throughout the region,” said Laffey, the firm’s president and CEO. “Our company with its strong heritage and reputation, combined with the venerable Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand, will be unstoppable in the marketplace.”

Laffey said the brand will be embraced by local real estate consumers, many of whom work in the commercial and financial centers of Manhattan. “Our new brand carries the name of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., one of the world’s most trusted and successful corporations,” he explained. “New Yorkers respect Mr. Buffett and the Berkshire Hathaway enterprise. We’re confident they will seek the world-class service for which Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is known.”

Laffey International Realty is a perennial leader in Long Island’s bustling luxury market. In 2017, it topped the market in key sales categories such as per-agent productivity and per-office productivity while expanding its new-homes division and ultra-luxury and waterfront property sales.

Laffey said his brokerage will accelerate growth as a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network. “We expect to at least triple our agent count over the next 24 months and add offices in strategic locations across Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty is an obvious choice for top agents who want to take their careers and businesses to new heights.”

With their network membership, Laffey International Realty agents gain access to the network’s Global Network Platform, a powerful tool suite driving lead generation, marketing support, social media, video production/distribution and more. The brand also provides international listing syndication, relocation referrals, professional education and the exclusive Luxury Collection marketing program for high-end listings.

Laffey International Realty will commemorate its brand transition July 11 with a ceremony and celebration at the Crescent Beach Club in Bayville. Its Cabernet and White yard signs will begin appearing throughout greater Long Island that day.

Gino Blefari, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, applauded Laffey International Realty’s transition. “I’ve known and admired Emmett Laffey for over 20 years,” Blefari said. “He and his team are highly respected in the marketplace and will be strong ambassadors of our brand. We are pleased to welcome them to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.”

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Acquisitions BNSF

BNSF Logistics Acquires Unlimited Freight

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

BNSF Logistics, a multi-modal third-party logistics service provider, has acquired Unlimited Freight, located in New Braunfels, Texas.

This acquisition strengthens BNSF Logistics’ service offering for flatbed movements across North America and provides additional local resources to support this global company.

“We are excited to add Unlimited Freight to our family,” BNSF Logistics President Dan Curtis said. “This addition brings talented employees with deep industry experience as well as valuable new customers to our rapidly growing organization and aligns with our goal to increase our geographic footprint.”

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Berkshire Hathaway Makes New Vestas Turbine Purchases

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S has received an order from Berkshire Hathaway-owned utility PacifiCorp to repower two of its wind parks in the state of Washington.

Vestas will supply 216 MW of its V100-2.0 MW turbines, excluding towers, for the Marengo and Marengo II wind farms.

The order will replace the existing V80-1.8 MW turbines at the decade-old wind farms.

“As wind technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, repowering enables Vestas and our customers to update existing projects with the latest technology to unlock even more energy production and dramatically lower operating costs, extending the lifetime benefits of these projects,” Chris Brown, president of Vestas sales and service division in the US and Canada, said.

Berkshire recently placed an order with Vestas in December 2017 for its MidAmerican Energy subsidiary. That order for 70 MW of V110-2.0 MW turbines was for its Wind XI wind farm in Iowa.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

BYD opens World’s Largest Battery Factory

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

New energy company BYD has announced the opening of what it bills as the world’s largest battery manufacturing plant. The plant is located in the western province of Qinghai.

The facility has commenced manufacturing batteries, but the entire facility will not be fully completed until the end of 2019.

The plant is designed to keep up with the demands of a company that has become the world leader in battery powered cars.

The new plant has a capacity of 24 GWh, as BYD aims to increase its total manufacturing capacity to 60 GWh by 2020.

This is BYD’s third battery factory in China, with factories already in Shenzhen and Huizhou.

“Electrification is a done deal as several countries have announced a deadline for the sale of internal combustion engine cars to end. Electric vehicles are on the cusp of another boom,” said BYD President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu.

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million has grown in value almost ten-fold, and is now worth roughly $1.96 billion.

For More on BYD, read the Special Report: BYD, Berkshire’s Tesla.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen Has Big Plans for South Korea

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

A Blizzard has come to South Korea and it will only get bigger.

Dairy Queen, which already has over 600 locations in China, is now looking for a major expansion in South Korea as its next major international market.

Dairy Queen opened its first South Korea location in Seoul’s theater neighborhood of Daehangnoat at the end of 2017 and now has three locations.

In many countries outside the U.S., the quick service chain has frozen treats only locations, but South Korea is going for the full Grill & Chill experience.

Over the next five years, Dairy Queen is planning to open 50 locations, including in Hongdae, Gangnam and Itaewon.

“We need to get to a critical mass in order to support our local vendors,” Dairy Queen CEO Troy Bader notes.

For more information on Dairy Queen’s world-wide plans, read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Mouser Electronics

Mouser Electronics Adds Suppliers

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Mouser Electronics has added more than 25 new suppliers year-to-date to its already vast line card of over 700 suppliers. With an already extensive portfolio of products and suppliers across the board, the additional suppliers bolster the product choices for Mouser’s unique design engineer customer base and component buyers/procurement agents.

The suppliers added so far in 2018 represent the major electronic product categories including semiconductors, embedded modules, optoelectronics, passives, interconnects and wire/cable assemblies, electromechanical, power, test and measurement, and tools.

In 2017, Mouser added over 30 new suppliers in the embedded space alone. Over one third of these make some sort of IoT prototype board, allowing customers to quickly begin working with IoT components such as sensors, wireless communication and low power processing.

“Mouser is uniquely focused on offering our customers the industry’s widest selection of the newest products and technologies from a broad range of the leading electronic component manufacturers,” said Jeff Newell, Mouser Electronics’ Senior Vice President of Products. “Adding this significant number of new suppliers reinforces Mouser’s reputation as a one-stop shop for all the board-level components and associated development tools necessary for total project design, as well as delivering a faster time-to-market for engineers and buyers.”

The additions span across all product categories, with special emphasis on the embedded sector as the global authorized distributor strengthens its focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). Among the new embedded additions are Altitude Technology, Doodle Labs, Espressif Systems, Gumstix, NewAE Technology, and Sierra Monitor, as well as power, connector and semiconductor suppliers Advanced Energy and Tronics.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.

Categories
Dairy Queen

Texas Still Goes Its Own Way on Dairy Queen’s Marketing

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Dairy Queen is using the promise of a free Blizzard dessert to promote its Dairy Queen app. After downloading, mobile phone users get a coupon for a free small Blizzard. The coupon is good across the U.S., except in Texas.

Why not in Texas?

Because Texas, which has more DQs than any other state, has its own marketing association, the Texas Dairy Queen Operators’ Council.

Drive through Texas and you will see completely different DQ slogans, such as “Eat like a Texan.”

You will also see a different menu than the rest of the country.

Burgers called the Hungr-Buster and Beltbuster, and food such as the Texas T-Brand Tacos, Nachos Deluxe and the Beef Taco Salad, are Texas-only menu items. Yes, Dairy Queen’s famous cones, Blizzards, and ice cream cakes are all on the menu.

The different marketing campaign is holdover from pre-1998 before Berkshire Hathaway owned the quick service chain.

Texas operators held a lot of sway, and still do, and in the days before Berkshire, Dairy Queen signed all kinds of deals that it still has to live with. Some of those deals were drawn up on a napkin and were barely more than a handshake. That’s why you won’t find DQ Bakes! Artisan-style Sandwiches on the menu. When the company rolled out DQ Bakes! as its first year-round food campaign in 2015, Texas said no thanks.

I guess baked sandwiches sounded a bit too frou-frou for Texas, but they are missing out on such delights as the company’s Kansas City BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich and the Turkey BLT.

As for apps, Texas has its own DQ Texas app, which offers free treats and other rewards after five visits to a store where you spend $5 or more.

Just don’t look for a free Blizzard for downloading it.

For more information on Dairy Queen’s world-wide plans, read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2018 David Mazor

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.