Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s foray into the home-brokerage arena 14 years ago was almost an afterthought. Today, Warren Buffett’s company is staking its name on the business. [...] While Buffett has invested for decades in companies with strong consumer brands -- from Geico to Dairy Queen -- few of his subsidiaries have adopted the name of his holding company. The brokerage will test whether the “Berkshire” brand has broad appeal and can be used without tarnishing a reputation for financial strength and integrity. “It’s always been used as an investment brand,” said Stefan Swanepoel, a consultant and author on real estate trends. “The question is: Can you position it as a consumer brand?”
Candy Cash Flow: The Secrets to See’s Candy (Guru Focus)
Charles A. See, a salesman from Ontario, opened the first See’s Candy shop in Pasadena, Calif. in 1921, with his mother Mary See. Exactly 50 years later Warren Buffett picked up his first See’s candy and gave it a try. After hearing about See's from his West Coast colleague Charlie Munger (in 1971), an eternal synergy blossomed with a blue chip buy-out of See’s Candy the following year. [...] See’s Candy is a textbook example of a magnificent business with a continually widening moat, characterized as above average return on assets, incredible return on invested capital, pricing power and a negative operating cycle. These effects are due to superb management (See’s family, Chuck Huggins and now Brad Kinstler), high customer captivity, low to non-existent capex (and maintenance capex) and proficiencies in industry jousting (game theory/prisoners dilemma).
MiTek Acquires Truss Industry Production Systems, Inc. (Business Wire)
MiTek Industries, a Berkshire Hathaway company, and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, equipment, software and services for the building components industry, announced today that it has acquired Truss Industry Production Systems, Inc. (TIPS), the maker of the Wizard PDS system. The Wizard PDS system is a leading automated jigging system sold to component fabricators across North America.
NetJets loses IntelliJet trademark spat with Florida aircraft leasing company (Columbus Business Report)
NetJets sued another company over the using the name "IntelliJet", and the judge ended up invalidating NetJets's trademark. Oops.
NetJets Inc. has to surrender a trademark for its IntelliJet software after losing a dispute with a Florida aircraft brokerage and leasing company using the same name. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost ruled Columbus-based NetJets must abandon the trademark for its aircraft-management software because the Columbus private jet company’s use does not meet the standards required of a trademark. Namely, the IntelliJet software is used internally, as a vehicle through which NetJets provides services. [...] Joe Dreitler of Dreitler True LLC in Columbus, who represented Jacksonville, Fla.-based IntelliJet Group LLC, said NetJets and parent company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. were trying to throw their weight around by suing IntelliJet for trademark infringement in January 2012. IntelliJet has operated under that name since 2005.
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Adds Primary Casualty Construction Capabilities (Business Wire)
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it is expanding its construction casualty capabilities to include primary casualty insurance. The company now offers primary general liability, excess and umbrella coverage for wrap-ups, project-specific and practice policies. [...] Recently underwritten accounts range from new bridge, high speed rail and stadium projects, to a rolling wrap-up for a general contractor and a practice policy for a pipeline contractor.
Warren Buffett's $1.4 Billion Arbitrage on Phillips 66 (Fool)
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett likes to cultivate the image of a down-to-earth businessman, but when it comes to deal-making, he can get pretty creative. In a deal announced after the market close on Monday, Berkshire is acquiring Phillips Specialty Products, or PSPI, from downstream energy company Phillips 66 for roughly $1.4 billion. But here's the kicker: Buffett will be paying for the acquisition with shares of Phillips 66 from Berkshire's stock portfolio! Why structure the deal that way?
Warren Buffett's Energy Companies Stand Out Among the Crowd (Fool)
These kinds of moves are what separate Warren Buffet from the rest of us, and it isn't the only move he's made in the energy space. In the slideshow below, we go over all of Berkshire Hathaway's energy investments and why they fit the Warren Buffet style of investing.
Did Warren Buffett Just Tip His Hand About His Next Elephant Hunt? (Fool)
Given his fondness for the company, it is possible that Buffett might want to buy more of Phillips 66's energy transportation portfolio. However, Buffett typically looks for elephant-sized acquisitions. A company, say, about the size of Phillips 66, which at more than $45 billion in market capitalization would be quite the elephant. However, it's a company that would fit in well with Buffett's other capital-intensive holdings, including MidAmerican Energy Holdings and BNSF.Will Berkshire's Bets on Wind Power Pay Off? (Fool)
Berkshire Hathaway's MidAmerican Energy subsidiary just bought over 1 gigawatt (GW) of wind turbine capacity from Siemens. Construction sites across Iowa are linked to MidAmerican's expansion and reconductoring of its transmission system. MidAmerican Energy bought 448 turbines for an undisclosed price. Current installed capacity cost for wind turbines is about $2,000 per kilowatt (kW.) The total price tag could exceed $2 billion, and this is reputedly the largest wind turbine order to date. [...] Everyone seems to gain from this deal. Iowans can get enough power to service the equivalent of over 300,000 households at about $0.05 per kilowatt-hour (kWh.) New York City residents pay over $0.20 per kWh.
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