Categories
See's Candies

See’s Candies Hints It’s Ready to Head East

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1972 for only $25 million, See’s Candies today has over $400 million in annual revenues with just under a quarter of that as profit. That means it annually produces four times its acquisition cost in profit.

How can those profits continue to grow? The solution looks more and more to be to add stores in states where shoppers don’t currently have access to the joys of a See’s Candies chocolate lollipop. At least they can’t buy them year-round.

Currently there are more than 200 company-owned See’s Candies shops in the western half of the U.S., and limited distribution in department stores, along with a handful internationally in Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, and Tokyo, and additional pop-up stores for the holidays all across the country. However, until recently, you couldn’t find a full-fledged store east of the Mississippi River. That began to change in 2013 with See’s opening stores in Ohio (in Cincinnati and Columbus) and two stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Now, the company is hinting that it is looking harder at the Eastern seaboard.

“We need to develop the markets and taste buds,” See’s Candies President and CEO Brad Kinstler said during a recent appearance at Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance.

In 2013, Berkshire auctioned off an all-you-can-eat tour of the See’s Candy factory in California to benefit an education nonprofit. Who knows? Perhaps by 2016 that will be possible on the East Coast too. Have your sweet tooth at the ready.

© 2014 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

Berkshire Hathaway Acquires Charter Brokerage

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Berkshire Hathaway has announced the acquisition of Charter Brokerage from New York-based private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners.

Charter Brokerage describes its business as “a leading global trade services company providing complete customs, import, export, drawback and related services. Founded in 1994, our mission is to provide full-service and compliance-focused customs services to importers and exporters in the U.S. and Canada.”

In a statement issued by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett said, “Charter Brokerage is a high quality business with consistently strong financial performance that fits well within Berkshire Hathaway. We are delighted to partner with Bobby Waid, CEO, and its current management team.”

According to the company’s website, Charter Brokerage started as company serving the petroleum and airline industries, It now provides services to a large variety of industries, including chemicals, petrochemicals, biofuels, industrial machinery and equipment, metals and food products.

The company proclaims that “No firm matches our experience with the complex rules that govern the payment of drawback. We recover more duties, taxes and fees for our clients than any other firm.”

No financial details of the acquisition cost were released, but Fortune reported that Charter Brokerage had a valuation in the range of $500 million.

© 2014 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
Stock Portfolio

Warren Buffett Shows How to Make 354,000% on Your Money

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Making 100% on your money in a year is something that any investor would be proud of. Any investor that’s not Warren Buffett, that is. However, that pales before the return Berkshire Hathaway is set to make on Friday.

Berkshire Hathaway is poised to make nearly 354,000% on its money on Friday, December 12, 2014, when it exercises its right to purchase 8,438,225 common shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR-WI) for a penny a share. The warrants came attached to 68,530,939 Class A 9.00% Cumulative Compounding Perpetual Preferred Shares.

As of December 12, 2014, Restaurant Brands’ shares were trading at $35.41 a share.

The paper profits come as a result of Berkshire Hathaway’s role in financing Burger King’s acquisition of Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons, and give Berkshire ownership and control over 4.18% of the outstanding Common Shares and 14.37% of the total number of votes attached to all outstanding voting shares of the Corporation.

Berkshire provided $3 billion in financing, which entitled the conglomerate to preferred stock paying 9% interest, and the right to buy up to 1.75% of the combined company for a penny a share.

After receiving shareholder approval on Tuesday, December, 9, 2014, the deal will close on Friday, December, 12, 2014. Berkshire has already announced its intention to exercise its warrants that will have a value of roughly $275 million.

The combined Burger King and Tim Hortons will have 18,000 restaurants in 100 countries. The total valuation will be $18 billion.

Berkshire is not expected to sell its new stake in Burger King. The shares will join a $100 billion portfolio of leading companies that includes Coca Cola, American Express, IBM, and Wells Fargo among others.

(This article was amended based on the closing price on December 12, 2014.)

© 2014 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 Lubrizol

Lubrizol Continues Acquisitions Spree with Purchase of Two Weatherfield Units

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Berkshire Hathaway’s specialty chemical company Lubrizol has inked an agreement to purchase the oilfield chemicals business from Weatherford International PLC.

The acquisition is valued somewhere in the realm $750-$825 million.

The deal is the biggest “bolt-on” acquisition Lubrizol has made since it was acquired by Berkshire in 2011 for $9 billion, and comes only a week after it signed a deal to buy detergent compounds producer Warwick Chemicals, which is headquartered in Mostyn, North Wales.

Continued Expansion

Lubrizol has been on an acquisition spree of late. Only four months ago the company moved into the medical device market by acquiring Vesta Inc., a maker of catheters and tubing based on silicone and thermoplastics based in ranklin, Wisconsin.

Lubrizol’s revenues for 2013 were $6.4 billion, and the addition of the Weatherford units gives it an expanded footprint in the booming oil services business.

Under the terms of the deal, Lubrizol will acquire Engineered Chemistry and its drilling fluids business, known as Integrity Industries.

According to Lubrizol, the addition of these two businesses provide Lubrizol with a more significant footprint in the $20 billion oilfield chemicals business and more importantly, extensive applications experience and end-user relationships.

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. The business has occupied the same niche for more than 25 years and is recognized as an expert in oil based drilling systems and chemicals serving customers across a large North American footprint. Headquartered in Kingsville, TX, Integrity Industries operates approximately 14 locations.

“This proposed acquisition provides us a new growth platform as we build out a multi-billion business in specialty chemicals and drilling fluids for the oilfield space,” said James L. Hambrick, Lubrizol chairman, president and chief executive officer. “With the addition of the companies’ technologies, combined with improved fluid formulation and applications knowledge, Lubrizol will be better positioned to innovate more quickly and become a solutions provider for both multinational oilfield service companies as well as more regional customers which have a significant share of the North American market.”

The new units will be run under the moniker of Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions.

Increasing Global Manufacturing Capability

In addition to acquisitions, Lubrizol has also been expanding its global manufacturing capability, opening an additives manufacturing facility in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, in 2013, and breaking ground on a $50 million chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej, India, in April 2014.

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 7,500 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

© 2014 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
Buffett Successors Todd Combs and Ted Weschler

Buffett Successors: Are Ted Weschler and Todd Combs in the Running?

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Handicapping the successors to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger has become a major pastime for Berkshire Hathaway followers, so here is a pro and con analysis for two possible candidates, who because of their similar work as Berkshire investment portfolio managers, will be treated as one.

Candidates: Ted Weschler and Todd Combs

Current positions: Manage more than $14 billion in investment portfolios for Berkshire Hathaway.

Pro: With a total portfolio of over $100 billion in stock of leading companies, including Coca Cola, IBM, Wells Fargo, and American Express, Berkshire Hathaway in part resembles a mutual fund. Management of this portfolio has traditionally been Buffett’s job, although he has delegated over 10% of the portfolio to Weschler and Combs, and has steadily increased the amount they manage each year. Weschler and Combs each manage a portfolio of their own choosing. The case for either or both of them is that asset allocation is the primary role that both Buffett and Munger have chosen for themselves, and portfolio management is just that.

Both Weschler and Combs are former hedge fund managers. Ted Weschler was the founder of a hedge fund, Peninsula Capital, and Todd Combs was the CEO and Director of Castle Point Capital.

Berkshire’s company acquisition strategy, which last year included acquiring global food company Heinz, and this year will gain them the Van Tuyl Auto Group, and a portion of Burger King, puts Berkshire in the same class as a hedge fund, only with a long-term ownership time frame.

Alice Schroeder, Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” noted about Ted Weschler that “Warren keeps describing him as an investment manager, but the reality is his skills are more comparable to those of Warren himself. He has a background in broad capital management, including private equity, mergers and acquisitions, owning businesses and being directly involved in their management.”

As Warren Buffett’s handpicked protégés, Buffett has praised their success, noting that “They have made Berkshire billions already that we wouldn’t have otherwise made,” Buffett said on CNBC. “They both have a fundamental combination of soundness and brilliance.”

Con: Lack of management experience leading a company the size of Berkshire Hathaway. There are other Berkshire managers, including Geico’s Tony Nicely, BNSF Railway’s Matt Rose, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s Greg Abel, that have more experience helming large corporations.

Biggest Negative: Buffett has already ruled them out, explaining on CNBC that “They will not be the Chief Executive Officer, but they will be there to help the Chief Executive Officer in that arena. Just like people that run given business are there to help in their areas.”

Analysis: This one is an easy one. When Buffett says you are out of the running, you’re out.

© 2014 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
BNSF

BNSF Railway Adds $1,000 Surcharge to Older Oil Tank Cars

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As a common carrier, Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway can’t refuse under most circumstances to carry cargo, despite the potential loss or damage presented by the cargo. And, while BNSF’s growing role as a mobile crude oil pipeline has meant billions in new revenue, it also has presented new risks in regards to fire in the event of derailment, collision, or other accidents.

Now, BNSF has stepped up its efforts to ameliorate the financial cost of that risk through a $1,000 surcharge for each older crude oil tank car it transports.

BNSF, which this past February issued an RFP for 5,000 tank cars that meet higher fire and crash standards, will put the surcharge on older DOT-111 tank cars. Each tank car can hold up to 34,500 US gallons, so the charge adds just under 3 cents per gallon, or $1.26 a barrel.

BNSF’s crude oil trains can exceed 100 tank cars and a mile in length, giving the railroad potentially as much as an extra $100,000 in revenue per trainload.

With the Bakken oil boom, the railroad has become the largest transporter of crude oil in North America. The company recently celebrated its 1,000th crude-oil unit train at the COLT rail hub in Epping, North Dakota, which only opened in June 2012.

However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the oil derived from North Dakota’s Bakken shale has an 8 pounds per square inch Reid Vapor Pressure in warmer weather and 12.5 in colder weather. This is significantly higher than oil derived from the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, and makes safety concerns in regards to older tank cars all the more important.

In addition to transitioning to safer tank cars, BNSF has boosted training for both its crews and emergency responders in communities along its routes. In August, BNSF gave emergency responders from 12 states specialized training focused on managing incidents related to crude oil trains.

© 2014 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 Continues to be Bullish on Wind Power

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Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, will develop a new wind farm site in Adams County, Iowa, and expand a second site in O’Brien County, Iowa, in 2015.

The $280 million project will include the installation of up to 67 wind turbines and will add up to 162 megawatts of additional wind generation capacity in Iowa.

The new project comes just 16 months after MidAmerican Energy launched a $1.9 billion investment to add up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa by year-end 2015.

A Leader in Wind-Generated Power

MidAmerican Energy first began installing wind turbines in 2004, and is first among U.S. rate-regulated utility in wind-powered generation capacity.

The aggressive strategy has MidAmerican Energy on track to reach 3,500 megawatts of wind generation capability in Iowa by the end of 2015.

William J. Fehrman, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy, stated that “With this proposed expansion, beginning in 2016, MidAmerican Energy’s wind resources are expected to produce an amount of energy equivalent to approximately 50 percent of the retail energy customers are expected to need.”

MidAmerican Energy’s goal is to provide renewable energy for the equivalent of approximately 1.05 million average Iowa households.

Wind’s Growing Role in Meeting Energy Needs

Wind energy is playing an increasing role in the US’s energy needs with a total installed wind capacity in the U.S. of 61,327 megawatts through first quarter of 2014. Total wind generated energy is enough to power 15.5 million homes.

On the commercial side, wind energy has found demand from companies such as Google, which in April 2014, signed an agreement with MidAmerican Energy to supply Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with up to 407 megawatts of wind-sourced energy.

As the cost of wind energy continues to drop, consideration also needs to be given to “hidden costs” inherent in other forms of energy production. The National Research Council identified these costs and noted that “pollutants from the burning of fossil fuels have effects on human health, grain crops, timber yields, building materials, recreation, and outdoor vistas.”

These hidden cost costs are often overlooked when calculating the cost of power generation, and make wind power all the more attractive.

© 2014 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 Automotive

Van Tuyl Group Acquisition Brings More Insurance Float

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Is there anything Warren Buffett likes more than insurance float? Probably not, if you look at the more than $100 billion in insurance float generated by Berkshire Hathaway’s GEICO and its other insurance companies.

Now there’s more float on the way with Berkshire Hathaway’s recently announced $4.1 billion acquisition of auto dealership group Van Tuyl Group.

The float comes because Van Tuyl Group owns Old United Casualty Company, which provides extended warranty services and other automotive protection plans to 1.6 million customers.

In addition, Van Tuyl Group also owns Old United Life Insurance Company, which sells credit Life, credit Accident and Health policies through the Van Tuyl Group’s automobile dealerships and other outside dealerships.

New Units Will Join Berkshire’s Existing Insurance Companies

Both the Old United Casualty Company, and the Old United Life Insurance Company, will be split off from the Van Tuyl Group, and will become part of Berkshire’s wholly-owned National Indemnity Company.

The Van Tuyl Group will be rechristened Berkshire Hathaway Automotive.

The Van Tuyl Group is the number one privately-held auto dealership group and is fifth nationally among total dealership groups. The company also serves as a management consulting company that recruits on behalf of a large number of independently owned automotive dealerships.

2013 revenues were nearly $9 billion from 78 independently operated dealerships with over 100 franchises covering Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas.

The Van Tuyl Group was founded in 1955 by Cecil Van Tuyl with a single Kansas Chevrolet dealership. Joined by his son Larry in 1971, the company is now headed by Larry Van Tuyl, as the current Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Rachor.

Rachor, who previously headed Fortune 500 auto dealer group Sonic Automotive, and did a stint as the head of auto parts retailer Pep Boys, will take over as Chief Executive Officer for Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Larry Van Tuyl will continue to manage the company as chairman.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, after clearing regulatory hurdles and gaining approvals from auto manufactures.

© 2014 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 Berkshire Hathaway Automotive

Berkshire Adds $1 Billion in Earning Power With Van Tuyl Group Acquisition

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Berkshire Hathaway is getting in the thick of the auto retail business with the acquisition of the Van Tuyl Group. The soon to be rechristened Berkshire Hathaway Automotive will add over a billion dollars in gross profits annually to Berkshire’s bottom line.

Berkshire Hathaway agreed to acquire the auto dealership group for $4.1 billion after company CEO Larry Van Tuyl approached Berkshire and proposed the acquisition.

The Van Tuyl Group is the number one privately-held auto dealership group and is fifth nationally among total dealership groups. The company also serves as a management consulting company that recruits on behalf of a large number of independently owned automotive dealerships.

2013 revenues were nearly $9 billion from 78 independently operated dealerships with over 100 franchises covering Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas.

The Van Tuyl Group was founded in 1955 by Cecil Van Tuyl with a single Kansas Chevrolet dealership. Joined by his son Larry in 1971, the company is now headed by Larry Van Tuyl, as the current Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Rachor.

Rachor, who previously headed Fortune 500 auto dealer group Sonic Automotive, and did a stint as the head of auto parts retailer Pep Boys, will take over as Chief Executive Officer for Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Larry Van Tuyl will continue to manage the company as chairman.

Billions in profit potential

Annual gross profits across the sector in 2013 averaged 15.5%. As a private company, the Van Tuyl Group does not release its annual profits, but they should be around $1.25 billion.

Adding a billion dollars annually to the Berkshire bottom line is only the beginning, as Warren Buffett has already announced that under Berkshire the company will continue to acquire dealerships as it participates in an industry-wide consolidation that has AutoNation and Penske Automotive Group as the sector leaders.

A successful management style

The Van Tuyl Group has incentivized their dealership general managers by making them minority owners of the dealerships. Berkshire is expected to continue this strategy.

One-stop shopping?

Berkshire Hathaway Automotive will likely open up new opportunities for Berkshire to have one-stop shopping for cars, financing and auto insurance.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, after clearing regulatory hurdles and gaining approvals from auto manufactures.

(Portions of this article have been updated with new information.)

© 2014 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

Is There an Oncor Performance in Berkshire’s Future?

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Berkshire Hathaway’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) has been aggressively expanding its assets with $15 billion in recent acquisitions. Now, the company could be one of the bidders for Energy Future Holdings’ Oncor.

Berkshire and several of the energy companies, including NextEra Energy, signed confidentiality agreements for the purpose of exploring the acquisition of Oncor.

What is Oncor?

Oncor is a regulated electric transmission and distribution service provider that serves 10 million customers across Texas. The company has the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas; with approximately 119,000 miles of lines and more than 3 million meters across the state.

Oncor is owned by a limited number of investors, including majority owner, Energy Future Holdings Corp.

What’s the price?

Oncor is estimated to be worth than $17.5 billion, which puts it in line with Warren Buffett’s goals to acquire more “elephants” in the $20 billion range.

In June, Buffett noted that Berkshire had already poured $15 billion into acquiring energy companies and he declared “There’s another $15 billion ready to go, as far as I’m concerned.”

Oncor fits the bill

Transmission lines have been high on BHE’s list of late. In April, the company made a $2.9 billion purchase of Canadian company AltaLink from SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX:SNC).

A Growing Energy Portfolio

Berkshire Hathaway Energy currently has $70 billion in assets, including one of the largest portfolios of renewable energy in the world.

Total revenues in 2013 were $12.6 billion, with the total generation capacity owned and contracted exceeding 34,000 MW. 25% of this energy was produced from renewable or noncarbon sources.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s combined subsidiaries provide energy to 8.4 million customers and end-users.

With Berkshire’s over $60 billion in cash just waiting to be deployed, there could be an Oncor performance in Berkshire’s future.

© 2014 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.