Tag: Marmon Group

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Railserve, Inc., a Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway company, and USD Group have announced a strategic alliance to develop rail-centric solutions that enhance growth, efficiency and capacity for all sectors of the rail industry.

“We recognize the unique environment that railroads and shippers currently operate within,” said Dan Borgen, USDG’s CEO and President. “In an industry that is increasingly capacity constrained, our strategic alliance with Railserve is one of many ways USDG is continually pursuing growth and promoting efficiency. We believe USDG and Railserve can leverage our respective organizational capabilities to tailor unique solutions.”

The alliance between USDG and Railserve is born from a long history of collaboration and shared values. USDG and its affiliates are engaged in designing, developing, owning and managing large-scale multi-modal logistics centers and energy-related midstream infrastructure across North America. Railserve is a leading provider of on-site rail services, including third party rail switching, in-plant logistics, locomotive service, track maintenance, locomotive sales and leasing, air brakes as well as a host of car repair inspection, cleaning and maintenance services through Union Tank Car. The alliance will allow the companies to more seamlessly provide customers with new service options, such as car inspections, car repairs and car washing.

“We believe this alliance creates a wide range of services and capabilities for rail shippers and receivers,” said Tim Benjamin, Group President – Railyard Products and Equipment. “Our longstanding relationship with USDG makes this a natural partnership for our respective companies. The current dynamic rail environment continues to evolve and both companies understand the efforts around Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), storage in transit (SIT), First and Last Mile, truck to rail transload, ports, and efficient growth solutions. Our collective team of experienced industry experts are uniquely qualified to assist in all these areas.”

The alliance is currently coordinating activities and railroad and energy industry partners will have immediate opportunities to benefit from these new initiatives.

© 2020 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.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Harbour Industries is now an approved manufacturer for a number of low-loss coax and high-speed data cables used on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lighting II 5th generation fighter aircraft.

Based in Shelburne, Vermont, Harbour Industries is owned by Berkshire Hathaway through its conglomerate, Marmon Holdings. The company is a premier manufacturer of Data; RF; and Mil-spec wire and cable.

Since 1965, Harbour Industries has been manufacturing high temperature and high performance cable for the military, commercial, and industrial markets. The Shelburne facility manufactures a wide range of wire and cable products utilizing numerous conductors, insulating compounds, braid wire, and jacketing materials.

Robert Canny, President said, “We look forward to supporting the 2020 F-35 Sustainment Contract just released by the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin. Harbour has a long reputation of providing timely products to our business partners to support their ramp to full production.” Declared “combat ready” by the commander of the US Air Combat Command, this next generation aircraft provides capabilities needed on the modern battlefield. The F-35 provides air superiority, interdiction, suppression of enemy air defenses and close air support with unprecedented situational awareness of the battle space that will be more extensive than any single-seat platform in existence.

Harbour’s data and coaxial cables were chosen based on the use of a composite fluoropolymer insulation ensuring light-weight and high-speed transmission. Harbour is known as a supplier that has product and process engineering expertise that ensures the highest quality cables will be manufactured in exact accordance with Lockheed’s demanding physical and electrical requirements.

As the F-35 moves toward full rate production, Harbour is ready for the challenge to supply increased volume on-time with unmatched quality.

© 2020 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.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is famous for buying companies, but on a occasion it sells them too.

International Wire Group has acquired Owl Wire and Cable from Berkshire’s Marmon Holdings, Inc.

Owl is a producer of high volume, heavy bare and tinned wire with operations in Canastota, Rome and Boonville, New York. Founded in 1954 as a family-owned business, Owl has been a recognized leader in copper wire for over six decades.

IWG is the market leader and the largest bare copper wire and copper wire products manufacturer in the United States with operations in Europe. With broad manufacturing and in-house engineering capabilities, IWG’s highly-skilled and experienced workforce offers fellow suppliers, distributors and OEMs the industry’s most robust and mission-critical product portfolio. It serves customers across the industrial and energy, electronics and data communications, aerospace and defense, medical products, automotive, and consumer and appliance industries.

“This new partnership is a ‘win-win’ for the loyal customers and workforces of both IWG and Owl, and for the communities we are privileged to serve,” said IWG President and CEO Greg Smith. “By integrating Owl’s manufacturing capabilities and superior customer service into our already market-leading company, we will create a unique platform to serve current and future customers. The new IWG will continue to deliver high-quality, precise wire and cable products for mission-critical applications that power our global economy. We know the Owl team well, and are thrilled to welcome them to IWG,” said Smith.

“We are thrilled to join the IWG organization. In doing so, the combination of IWG and Owl will bring an unparalleled benefit to the industry, one with the broadest and deepest capabilities to better serve our customers’ needs,” said Bob Raiti, President of Owl Wire and Cable.

© 2019 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.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

The U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) has issued an order banning the importation of refrigerator water filters that infringed patents owned by Berkshire Hathaway’s KX Technologies LLC and licensed to Electrolux Home Products, Inc.

KX Technologies is a global leader in the design and production of drinking water filtration products including under-sink and countertop filtration units, point-of-use and point-of-entry systems, and refrigerator water and ice filtration systems.

“This is a significant win for KX Technologies and an even bigger win for American consumers,” said KX President Jerome Barrillon.

Barrillon cited a recent study by the Association for Home Appliance Manufacturers, which concluded that “counterfeit refrigerator water filters pose a serious risk to consumer health and safety.” The study revealed these counterfeit filters have “an overwhelming failure to remove harmful contaminants” that could harm the well-being of American consumers.

“KX is committed to upholding NSF-certified standards in our technologies and products to deliver safe, high quality water,” Barrillon said. “This important ruling will help ensure consumers can purchase water filters with confidence in the product’s performance.”

To help stop the flow of counterfeit filters into the U.S., on June 8, 2018, KX joined Electrolux in filing a complaint requesting that the ITC investigate the importation of infringing water filters into the country.

Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 provides for the investigation of any unfair act in the importation of articles into the U.S., including the enforcement of intellectual property rights. If the ITC finds a violation of Section 337, it may issue (1) an exclusion order banning importation of the infringing goods and/or (2) a cease-and-desist order preventing the sale and distribution of the infringing goods, subject to severe civil penalties.

Because the infringing water filters were so numerous and the sources of the products were difficult or impossible to identify, the ITC issued a sweeping “General Exclusion Order” banning infringing water filters from any source, even if the party seeking to import the products was not specifically named in the investigation. The ITC also issued cease-and-desist orders preventing certain named parties from any commercial activity involving the infringing filters.

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)

Angelo V. Pantaleo will become Chairman and CEO of global industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., effective January 1, 2019.

His promotion was announced by Greg Abel, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

Pantaleo, currently President of Marmon Holdings, will succeed Frank S. Ptak, who as previously announced is retiring at the end of 2018 after leading Marmon for 13 years. “I am delighted to pass the Marmon baton to Angelo,” Ptak said. “He was my choice as successor and our friends at Berkshire wholeheartedly agreed. I expect him to build upon what we have accomplished together and take Marmon to the next level of success.”

Marmon Holdings comprises more than 100 autonomous manufacturing and service businesses whose diverse products range from railroad tank cars and platform trailers, to shopping carts and commercial beverage dispensers, to screws and work gloves. Marmon has operations in 23 countries, with about 20,000 employees and projected 2018 revenues of more than $8 billion.

Pantaleo joined Marmon in 1991 as president of the company’s industrial water filtration business and advanced to serve as group president over all of Marmon’s water treatment and consumer products businesses worldwide. During this period, he led numerous Marmon acquisitions in Asia, Europe, and North America. On his watch, Marmon Water earned the leading market share position at retail in North America and Europe, and became the fastest growing consumer water treatment company in China.

In 2014, Pantaleo was asked to lead the Berkshire Hathaway transition team responsible for integrating Duracell, a multi-billion-dollar global battery business, into Berkshire. Upon completion of the Duracell acquisition, Pantaleo become CEO of Duracell. He returned to Marmon as president in late 2017 with the announcement of Ptak’s planned retirement.

Before joining Marmon, Pantaleo spent 11 years in progressive roles with DuPont. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.B.A. in Finance.

© 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.