Berkshire Subsidiary Briefs - 1/5/17

There was a lot of news last month, and I fell behind on posting, so there are three posts this time. This is part 2, with news about Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiary companies.

(Part 1 - General Business | Part 3 - Miscellaneous)

The Dairy Queen® System Announces Plans to Develop 50 DQ Grill & Chill® Locations in Korea Over the Next Five Years

International Dairy Queen, Inc. today announced the signing of a multi-unit development agreement to expand into the Republic of Korea with plans to open 50 DQ Grill & Chill locations within the next five years. [...]

(On a tangentially related note, did you know you could ask DQ staff to add coffee to a Blizzard? I can't believe I didn't know about this "secret menu" item before last week.)

Fruit of the Loom names Melissa Burgess-Taylor CEO

Fruit of the Loom, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit, said it named Melissa Burgess-Taylor as the chief executive officer and chairman, following the death of Rick Medlin.

Medlin, who had held the top post at the apparel company since 2010, died on Sunday of natural causes, the company said. [...]

Burgess-Taylor, who has been with the company for more than 17 years, is currently senior vice president of brand management and sales for Fruit of the Loom and Vanity Fair Brands.

Lubrizol names Schnur as CEO

Global thermoplastic polyurethane leader Lubrizol Corp. has named company veteran Eric Schnur as chairman, president and CEO.

Schnur has been with Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol for more than 27 years. He’s held the roles of president and chief operating officer since June. Prior to that move, Schnur served as president of the firm’s Advanced Materials unit — including TPU — for eight years.

The move was effective Jan. 2. Schnur replaces James Hambrick, who’s retiring after a 38-year career with Lubrizol. [...]

Nebraska Furniture Mart COO Ron Blumkin’s successor named

Nebraska Furniture Mart President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Blumkin will leave his position as part of the company’s long-term succession planning, the company said Friday.

Tony Boldt, director of the Mart’s Kansas City store, will take the role of president and COO. Blumkin will serve as chairman, and Irv Blumkin will remain chief executive. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Unit Acquires Snappy Company

Berkshire Hathaway company unit MiTek Industries, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, M&M Manufacturing, has acquired Snappy Company.

Snappy is a leading supplier of metal duct systems for the residential HVAC market, with manufacturing facilities in Detroit Lakes, MN; Medina, NY; and corporate offices in Marietta, GA.

Snappy will complement M&M Manufacturing, a leading producer of sheet metal products, primarily servicing the air distribution and ventilation markets. [...]

OCI Solar Power seeks to sell Alamo 6 solar farm to Warren Buffett-owned company

San Antonio-based solar developer OCI Solar Power is seeking state approval to sell its Alamo 6 solar farm to a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's multinational holding company Berkshire Hathaway. A sale price has not been disclosed but OCI Solar Power officials confirmed that the company signed a purchase agreement to sell the West Texas solar farm. Located in Pecos County, Alamo 6 remains under construction but once complete it will supply 110.2 megawatts of electricity to San Antonio's municipally-owned utility company CPS Energy. [...]

The sharing economy brings tycoon lifestyles within reach of some

Tycoon living begins with a private jet. Whereas yachts are dispensable (not everyone wants to float around for weeks with the same dinner companions) private jets are necessities for the aspiring billionaire. [...]

No longer do you need a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars to have one. With 700 jets, NetJets is now the fifth-largest airline by number of planes, after Southwest Airlines, and it has access to thousands of private airports. Its main innovation was to apply the principle of fractional ownership, or time-sharing, to the ultimate executive tool. Customers buy a share in a jet which entitles them to, say, 200 hours of travel a year. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/29/15

Berkshire Hathaway Inc BNSF Retakes Agricultural Transport Market Share From Union Pacific Corporation (Bidness Etc)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNSF) railway reported yesterday that it has taken back its market share of grain and agricultural goods. The company lost its share last year as it failed to meet the customer demand and because its competitor, Union Pacific Corporation, had taken the market share lost by BNSF, and has been providing services since then. [...]

Union Pacific managed to increase its carload by 6.7% during last year, benefiting from the market share loss of BNSF. As BNSF is increasing its market share in agricultural goods, Union Pacific will ultimately lose some of its cargo load and market share. BNSF managed to increase its grain carload by 27% in the first quarter of the current year, hitting Union Pacific carload, which declined 3%. BNSF aims at further increasing its market share of agricultural product cargo, which contributed to 19% of the company’s total revenues last year.

Berkshire insurance unit has unique birthday celebrations (Boston Globe)

Most financial companies don’t celebrate their birthday with a slide show and a song written for the occasion. But Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance isn’t a typical financial company.

The company already employs more than 550 people, including nearly 75 at its downtown Boston headquarters, even though the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary will be only two years old on April 29. It’s aiming to exceed $1 billion in premiums this year. [...]

The company now has nine offices in the United States and operates in five other countries. It has made at least one big acquisition, the purchase in 2014 of travel assistance firms MyAssist and Insure America, so far. Eastwood said he hopes to expand into the United Kingdom and continental Europe later this year.

MiTek Acquires BuilderMT (BusinessWire)

MiTek Industries, Inc. (“MiTek”), a diversified, global business supplying a wide range of engineered products; proprietary business management and design software; and automated equipment sold into the broad construction and industrial end markets announced today that it has acquired BuilderMT, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. BuilderMT is a leader in providing industry-specific workflow process management software to the residential home building market, serving both single family and multi-family builders.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Expands into Australia (BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) today announced that it has received its insurance license to provide all lines of General Business in Australia, established operations in Sydney, and named Chris Colahan as President of its Australasia Region. [...]

Beginning immediately, BHSI will be providing property, casualty, financial lines and marine cargo insurance in Australia.

Angie's List Announces Exclusive Relationship with Shaw Industries (BusinessWire)

Angie’s List today announced an exclusive relationship with Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, that will provide Angie’s List members with exclusive product offers from Shaw. [...]

Brady added that the agreement with Shaw comes on the heels of a similar agreement Angie’s List announced last month with Benjamin Moore & Company. Both Shaw and Benjamin Moore are Berkshire Hathaway companies.

Under the agreement, Shaw will provide discounts to service providers on Angie’s List who buy Shaw flooring for installation to Angie’s List members. In addition, members will be able to purchase pre-packaged offers from Angie’s List’s online marketplace that include Shaw flooring and installation.

3 Ways Berkshire Hathaway Will Look Different 10 Years From Now (Fool)

Berkshire Hathaway is Mr. Buffett's life work and he has directly contributed an incalculable amount of value to the firm through his capital allocation choices. However, his retirement or death wouldn't be catastrophic -- contrary to what some investors appear to believe. As one should reasonably expect, given the care and effort with which he has built Berkshire, Buffett has been equally deliberate in putting in place the people and the structures necessary to ensure that the business will continue to thrive without him.

CORT Partners with FamilyAid Boston to Address Homelessness (Furniture World)

CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway Company and the nation’s leading provider of transition services, has partnered with FamilyAid Boston to provide supportive housing solutions for approximately 2,500 homeless parents and children in Boston, Massachusetts, each year. More specifically, CORT has provided furniture solutions for FamilyAid Boston’s apartment-based shelter units in an effort to provide families with private, neighborhood-based shelter while they work to regain their stability and return to permanent housing. [...]

Over the past eight years, CORT has worked with FamilyAid Boston to provide furniture and accessories for roughly 1,000 shelter housing units. CORT furniture solutions include sofas, beddings, dressers and artwork. In addition, CORT has donated furniture accessories such as lamps and artwork, helping turn the apartment units into homes.

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/27/15

Berkshire to buy German motorcycle equipment retailer (Yahoo/Reuters)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Friday it had agreed to buy German motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer Detlev Louis Motorrad-Vertriebs GmbH for a little more than 400 million euros [$452 million]. [...] Ute Louis, the widow of company founder Detlev Louis, had approached Berkshire about a possible transaction and sold the Hamburg-based company to a Berkshire unit, according to the law firm Beiten Burkhardt, which advised on the purchase. Antitrust approval is required, the law firm said. [...] Detlev Louis has annual sales of 270 million euros, employs more than 1,500 people, has more than 70 outlets in Germany and Austria, and serves 25 countries through online stores, its law firm said.

Fortune wins for finding the best stock photo for the story.

Buffett sets sights on German companies (Reuters)

In an interview with Handelsblatt newspaper on Wednesday, Buffett said that he liked German companies because of the regulatory and legal protection for investors, as well as the global reach of even smaller businesses, such as Detlev Louis Motorrad-Vertriebs, the motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer bought last week. "We are definitely interested in buying more German companies," told the newspaper. "Germany is a great market: lots of people, lots of purchasing power and Germans are productive. We also like the regulatory and legal framework."

Warren Buffett's Transparency Problem (Newsweek)

Berkshire Hathaway, the giant conglomerate run for nearly half a century by lionized investor Warren Buffett, is drawing scrutiny for being less than crystal clear about how it is so profitable. The questions from Wall Street analysts, insurance specialists and corporate governance experts put the spotlight on a behemoth with $517 billion in assets that in recent years has grown increasingly opaque with its financial disclosures. Better known for giving shareholders a staggering return of more than 693,000 percent since its birth in 1965, more than 70 times that of the S&P 500, Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world’s largest companies, is one of the least transparent corporations in America.

Buffett tells deputies to supervise newest Berkshire businesses (Chicago Tribune)

At least four of Berkshire's recent acquisitions — including one on Friday of German motorcycle-equipment retailer Detlev Louis Motorradvertriebs and the deal for battery- maker Duracell announced in November — will be overseen by Buffett's deputies. The arrangements put a twist on the loose, trust-based culture that Buffett, 84, has championed at his company. For years, he's had the chief executive officers of Berkshire's dozens of businesses report to him directly. By delegating more, he's freeing up his time and building capacity in an organization that will someday have to run without him.

MiTek Acquires M&M Manufacturing Company (Herald Online)

MiTek Industries, Inc. [...] announced today that it has acquired M&M Manufacturing, Fort Worth, Texas. M&M Manufacturing is one of the country’s largest producers of sheet metal products, primarily servicing the air distribution and ventilation market. M&M provides a comprehensive range of round, rectangular, oval and spiral ductwork, fittings and accessories for residential and commercial construction. MiTek is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Johns Manville Invests to Support Growth in Engineering Thermoplastics (Herald Online)

Alert readers will recall that JM announced another factory expansion in Ohio in last week's News Briefs post.

Johns Manville (JM), a market-leading manufacturer of glass fiber products and Berkshire Hathaway company, today announced it will expand its glass fiber operations plant in Etowah, Tenn., to service the increasing needs of the engineered thermoplastics industry. [...] The planned expansion in Etowah includes a new furnace to support the launch of the next generation of global products for reinforced thermoplastic composites. [...] The new furnace, due to start up in mid-2016, will allow for production growth and flexibility within JM’s product families for polyamides, polyesters and polypropylenes that are used in automotive, electrical and consumer applications.

Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Get Bullish on Germany: 3 Key Takeaways for Investors (Fool Germany)

But as noted above, this may be a test case and a way for Berkshire to “dip its toes” in the German and European marketplace before jumping at bigger deals. And because Berkshire’s acquisition model is to buy companies and then let them operate without much interference, it can be a very attractive option for many owners. That may make this deal a signal to EU business leaders that Buffett has open ears for sellers from across the pond.

Donald R. Keough, Who Led Coca-Cola Through New Coke Debacle, Dies at 88 (New York Times)

Donald Keough was a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Board of Directors.

Donald R. Keough, who led Coca-Cola through the disastrous introduction of New Coke in 1985 and the return of the original formula just 10 weeks later, died on Tuesday in Atlanta, his family said. He was 88. [...] He also helped bring Warren E. Buffett, an old friend from Omaha, onto Coke’s board, where he served for 20 years. Berkshire Hathaway, Mr. Buffett’s investment firm, is Coca-Cola’s largest shareholder, and Mr. Buffett’s son Howard is on its board.

Group 1 director resigns citing Buffett-Van Tuyl deal (Auto News)

A Group 1 Automotive Inc. director has resigned, citing a potential conflict of interest related to her employer, Berkshire Hathaway, and its pending purchase of the Van Tuyl dealership group. The director, Beryl Raff, gave up her seat on Feb. 20, Group 1, the nation’s third-largest dealership group, said in an SEC filing today. [...] Raff has served on Group 1’s board since 2007. She has been the CEO of Helzberg Diamond Shops, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. since April 2009 [...] She remains on the boards of Helzberg Diamond, The Michaels Cos. Inc. and Helen of Troy Ltd., Bloomberg data show.

Warren Buffett's old Cadillac fetches $122,500 at auction (Reuters)

Warren Buffett's 2006 Cadillac attracted a high bid of $122,500, more than 10 times its market value, in a charity auction that concluded on Thursday night. The autographed DTS sedan, with 20,310 miles on the clock, was auctioned on the website Proxibid. A spokeswoman, Dana Kaufman, did not immediately identify the winner. Proceeds from the auction will go to Girls Inc of Omaha, Nebraska, the city where Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/20/14

Vilsack meets with Buffett on rail service issues (Des Moines Register)

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday he met with Warren Buffett last week to press the billionaire investor to make sure his railroad, BNSF Railway, was ready for the expected record corn and soybean harvest this fall. The 45-minute meeting Friday comes as BNSF and Canadian Pacific Railway work to reduce a backlog of grain car deliveries that started last winter and spring. The delays were largely the result of a robust 2013 harvest, higher coal and oil volumes, and the extraordinarily long, cold winter that reduced the size and speed of trains that operated. [...] The White House, lawmakers and the Surface Transportation Board, which oversees the railroads, have said BNSF has taken meaningful strides to reduce its car backlog, while CP has been criticized for moving with less urgency and not being as transparent.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance plans to offer life sciences coverage (Boston Globe)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, a Boston-based unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said Thursday that it is expanding its underwriting capabilities to address the risks of the life sciences industry. In a press release, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, or BHSI, said that it is “targeting a range of life sciences product liability risks, including medical devices, nutraceuticals, generic pharmaceuticals, compounding pharmacies, and clinical trials.

Berkshire newspaper group buys remaining interest in N.J. publisher (Omaha World Herald)

BH Media Group, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha, has announced that it will acquire the remaining 50 percent interest of New Jersey publisher Catamaran Media Co. LLC. Catamaran publishes 12 weekly newspapers in Atlantic and Cape May Counties with a total weekly distribution of more than 93,000. With the purchase of the Press of Atlantic City in August 2013, BH Media Group acquired an initial half-interest in the chain.

Doubling Down on Pot: Buffett Sells Upper Deck, Room to Grow (Bloomberg)

Cubic Designs Inc., a unit of Berkshire’s MiTek business that makes platforms for maximizing usable floor space in warehouses, sent about 1,000 fliers to weed dispensaries in recent weeks, offering to help growers expand the number of plants they cultivate. [...] Cubic Designs spotted the opportunity after a few pot growers approached the firm about its platforms, or mezzanine systems, according to Shannon Salchert, the company’s marketing coordinator. Warehouse space has gotten tight in places like Denver, where growers are looking for facilities to cultivate their product. That demand has allowed landlords to raise prices. “We sold a few mezzanines into that market and decided internally, ‘Why don’t we do some marketing?’” Salchert said today in a phone interview.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Buffett Sees Small Business Saving Detroit (Insider Monkey)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett believes Detroit is on the road to recovery, and that small businesses will be the driving force paving the way. [...] Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has some direct involvement and vested interest in the bankruptcy proceedings, as Buffett’s bond insurance firm Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. insured more than $380 million of Detroit’s secured sewer debt.

Buffett’s Salty Steak Draws Warning From Wells Fargo CEO (Bloomberg)

Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, telling the story of his first meal with Warren Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska, said the billionaire investor’s eating habits came as a shock. Stumpf, responding to a question about Buffett at the National Press Club in Washington today, said the world’s third-richest person dined on a T-bone steak cooked medium rare, a side of chicken parmigiana, mashed potatoes and a Cherry Coke. Buffett, 84, runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the largest shareholder in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.

Warren Buffett: 'I'm Having More Fun At 84 Than I've Ever Had' (Business Insider)

In an interview on Bloomberg TV, Warren Buffett made clear he doesn't really want to leave his post at Berkshire Hathaway. Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker asked Buffett about his future at Berkshire Hathaway, and Buffett — who turned 84 on Aug. 30 — said, "I'm having more fun at my job at 84 than I've ever had."

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/20/14

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Have Scored Another Billion-Dollar Business (Fool)

In June of 2013, we learned that Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) had officially started its efforts in America. Launched by none other than oft-praised insurance executive Ajit Jain, BHSI is the commercial property casualty insurance group that focuses on excess and surplus lines insurance, which allows companies to design specific policies and coverage depending on the needs of their businesses. [...] Earlier this year, we learned Berkshire Hathaway, in total, saw its total excess and surplus insurance premiums written -- which includes a few of its other businesses -- jump by $150 million, or nearly 40% in 2013, to stand at $561 million. The overall industry only saw premiums increase by 7.6%, and industry leader AIG saw its premiums actually fall by 4.2%, to $4.8 billion.

Berkshire Gets $3 Billion in Liberty Mutual Risk Transfer (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to backstop as much as $6.5 billion of Liberty Mutual Holding Co.’s obligations tied to asbestos, environmental and workers’ compensation policies. Liberty Mutual said in a statement today that it paid Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s National Indemnity Co. about $3 billion for the coverage. Berkshire has assumed billions of dollars in asbestos risk from insurers including CNA Financial Corp. and American International Group Inc. over the last decade. The contracts are a bet that Buffett’s company can generate profit by investing policy reserves and managing claims that will stretch out for years.

Warren Buffett Shares The Inside Scoop: He Bought A Cadillac (Forbes)

“The truth is, I only drive about 3,500 miles a year so I will buy a new car very infrequently.” In fact, his 2006 Cadillac DTS which had just 19,000 miles on it, was barely broken in when he became convinced recently it was time to replace it. [...] The sales pitch came from none other than GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who had flown to Omaha in mid-May to meet one of GM’s largest shareholders amid a growing safety crisis that threatened to stall the automaker’s comeback. The meeting came around the same time Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, disclosed that it had cut its stake in GM by 25 percent, to 30 million shares, during the first quarter.

Buffett-owned office tower construction firm opening Phoenix facility (Biz Journals)

This is the first Berkshire company that you may not have heard of before to make this week's update.

A Warren Buffett-owned company that constructs glass and steel façades for high-rises and skyscrapers is opening a manufacturing and assembly facility in west Phoenix. Portland-based Benson Industries LLC has leased nearly 93,500 square feet at the Durango Commerce Center near 75th Avenue and Interstate 10. Benson is a subsidiary of MiTek Inc., which is owned by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Benson manufactures glass and steel structures outfitted on the outside of large buildings including One World Trade Center and the New York Times Building in New York, as well as towers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Singapore and Hong Kong. The company has an assembly plant in Tijuana.

Berkshire Hathaway continues massive growth (Stevens Point Journal)

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection leaders said Wednesday that the company already has hired 150 full- and part-time employees this year and intends to grow to about 2,000 workers over the next five years, most of them in central Wisconsin. The company formerly known as the Noel Group now employs about 230 people in Wisconsin and Florida offices. [...] On Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker was in Stevens Point to tour its growing operations and praise the company's growth. In January, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, a division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, bought the assets of the Noel Group's two key companies, MyAssist and Insure America. In May, the Noel Group became Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection; since then, the company has ramped up its hiring.

AltaLink president confident of approval of sale to U.S. firm

As the planned sale of Alberta’s largest electrical transmission company to an American firm comes under scrutiny from politicians and the public, the president of AltaLink remains confident the deal will win approval from provincial and federal reviews. The $3.2-billion sale of AltaLink by Quebec-based SNC Lavalin to Berkshire Hathaway Energy — owned by billionaire Warren Buffett — is attracting attention, from the hiring of lobbyists to full-page newspaper ads from ATCO warning about “serious consequences” if the deal goes ahead.

WSJ: Retail Investments Represent Blemish on Buffett's Record (MoneyNews)

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has succeeded with his investments in almost every sector he's entered. But retail constitutes an exception. Buffett has called his performance in that area "awful," "pretty bad" and "really bad," The Wall Street Journal reports. [subscription required] [...] It's not significant, given that Berkshire's nine retail businesses make up only 2 percent of its $182 billion in revenue, according to the paper's calculations. Those businesses include See's Candies, Ben Bridge Jeweler and Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Warren Buffett: Why Being Cheap With Money Is a Big Mistake (Fool)

"Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that "Price is what you pay; value is what you get." Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."

Let's say you see a pair of socks at the dollar store versus some at the neighborhood sports store. The sports store has a $25 three pack on sale for $15, while you could buy three pairs for $3 at the business next door. Knowing one "investment" is five times more expensive, Buffett would tell you to pay $3 for the socks, right? Wrong. You'd have to consider so much about the socks beyond just the price. For example, what if the cheaper socks carried significant risk of injuries like blisters? Or what if they wore out after just a few months of use? And so on. The $15 socks could in fact provide better value. If the $3 socks must be replaced every eight months -- their "quality" may be anything but -- and you could hold onto the $15 socks for five years, you'd end up paying more over the long term for being cheap.

Details of crude-oil shipments in Nebraska remain mostly a mystery (Omaha World-Herald)

Both Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway move crude oil in Nebraska by rail, though neither they nor state officials will say exactly when, where or how much. [...] The topic has entered the public realm in recent years as oil shipments via train have skyrocketed amid production for newly tapped reserves in North Dakota, Montana and Canada’s Saskatchewan province. According to the Association of American Railroads, major freight rail companies originated 9,500 carloads of crude oil in 2008. In 2013, they originated 407,761 carloads. While the industry says the accident rate for transporting the combustible liquid is low, the accidents that have happened have been lethal or potentially so, amping up public interest, safety concerns and demands for details on the shipments.

The Best Business Book I’ve Ever Read (LinkedIn, by Bill Gates)

Not long after I first met Warren Buffett back in 1991, I asked him to recommend his favorite book about business. He didn’t miss a beat: “It’s Business Adventures, by John Brooks,” he said. “I’ll send you my copy.” I was intrigued: I had never heard of Business Adventures or John Brooks. Today, more than two decades after Warren lent it to me—and more than four decades after it was first published—Business Adventures remains the best business book I’ve ever read. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer. (And Warren, if you’re reading this, I still have your copy.)

Billionaire Warren Buffett Donates $2.1 Billion to Gates Foundation (Techsonia)

Second-richest person in the U.S. Warren Buffett donates on Monday $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is his biggest ever given to charitable institutions. This year’s Buffet gift to Gates Foundation is higher from the $2.0 billion last year and it is also more than any of his previous eight donations. Buffett has given about 21.73 million Class “B” shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and around 16.6 million of that, which is worth over $2.1 billion, went to the Gates Foundation. The remainder went to four charities run by Buffet’s family members, including a foundation named for his late first wife Susan and foundations for his children Howard, Peter and Susan.

Jordan’s Furniture collects clothes, shoes for kids (Furniture Today)

This is the second company in this week's update that you may not be familiar with.

Jordan’s Furniture has started collecting new and like-new clothes and shoes for children at its stores and distribution center here, benefiting the Cradles to Crayons Ready for School program. The retailer, part of Berkshire Hathaway’s furniture division, is partnering for the third year with the organization and with social service agencies that help distribute the donations to children in homeless or low-income situations.

Paul McCartney, Warren Buffett spotted in Dundee (Omaha World-Herald)

Paul McCartney was spotted with Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett in Dundee on Sunday night having dinner, dessert and a walk around the neighborhood. [...] After dinner, the group went up the street to eCreamery.

And finally... this has nothing to do with Berkshire Hathaway, but everything to do with this blog. Apparently, I'm nothing more than a 19th century scrapbooker.

When Copy and Paste Reigned in the Age of Scrapbooking (Smithsonian)

Cutting, pasting, collating: This feels like a new behavior, a desperate attempt to cope with a radical case of information overload. But it’s actually a quite venerable urge. Indeed, back in the 19th century we had a similarly intense media barrage, and we used a very similar technology to handle it: the scrapbook.

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/30/14

Berkadia Boosts Loan Servicing by $2 Billion With Deal (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, the joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Leucadia National Corp., added $2 billion to its loan-servicing portfolio with the purchase of Phoenix-based Keystone Commercial Capital. Keystone, with mortgage-banking offices in Boston and San Diego as well as Phoenix, will continue to be overseen by co-founder and managing partner Charlie Williams, Berkadia said today in a statement. Berkadia picks up 16 employees with the purchase.

Laissez-faire Alberta jolted by free-market paranoia (Globe and Mail)

If there are two things that the free-market energy bastion of Alberta has never been completely comfortable with, they are the free market and energy. That’s become clear again in the wake of Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s $3.2-billion bid for AltaLink LP, the company that operates power lines serving more than four-fifths of the province. The deal has sparked heated debate about foreign ownership of “critical infrastructure” in a place where new transmission projects get embroiled in battles over property rights even when demand drives the grid close to the breaking point.

Dairy Queen Finds a Summer Love: The S’more (NY Times)

A marketer that may be a symbol for those whose sales surge in the summer is the American Dairy Queen Corporation, a division of Berkshire Hathaway that has 6,450 Dairy Queen stores in 27 countries. A campaign to begin on Tuesday for the American market, where Dairy Queen has about 4,800 restaurants, has one goal: to make those few summer days count at the cash register. [...] According to Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, Dairy Queen spent $76.8 million on advertising last year. That was an increase from the $67.3 million spent in 2012 and just less than the $77 million spent in 2011. Dairy Queen will increase its spending this year, Mr. Westrum said.

The Dairy Queen System’s First-Ever Manhattan Location Opens Today (Marketwatch)

As of today, Manhattan residents and visitors will now have America’s most iconic treats right around the corner as the Dairy Queen® system, part of Berkshire Hathaway , opens the first-ever DQ Grill & Chill® restaurant in Manhattan. [...] Located at 54 West 14th St. between 5th and 6th Avenues [...] The Manhattan location is the only two-story DQ Grill & Chill restaurant in the country.

MiTek launches new roof design software in the UK & Ireland (Specification Online)

MiTek Industries Ltd, a Berkshire Hathaway company and the world’s leading supplier of connector products, software, equipment and services for the pre-fabricated roof truss and metal web joist market, has announced the UK and Irish launch of its new roof design software Pamir. [...] "The software has been ten years in development, comprises of more than 760,000 lines of code and has taken 130 man years of work to complete. The result is software that delivers the modern truss manufacturer quicker estimating capabilities, quicker roof editing tools and a more integrated software environment. [...]

Clayton Homes Unveils Newest Features for Tech-Savvy Homeowners (Digital Journal / PRWeb)

With tablets, smartphones and smart appliances becoming prominent features of American lifestyles, Clayton Homes, the nation's largest home builder*, is now unveiling several innovative amenities to its customers. Earlier this month, Clayton Homes presented its new Gen-Now Concept Home at the annual Berkshire-Hathaway Meeting to Warren Buffett and shareholders. The home was technologically integrated with devices and appliances on the cutting edge of technology, and many of those features will be available in other Clayton Homes models.

Buffett has advice for your kids (BusinessTech)

"Not everybody’s going to be an entrepreneur, but everybody should be financially literate. Financial literacy is a base requirement like spelling or reading or something of the sort that everybody should acquire at any early age. The financial habits you develop when you are young are going to go with you into your adulthood. But you can’t be an entrepreneur unless you’re financially literate."

Warren Buffett's older sister works one-on-one to help (CBS Money Watch)

When Warren Buffett announced in 2006 that he would give away his billions, he was flooded with individual requests for help that still flow in today. Instead of tossing the letters aside, Buffett packages them up and sends them to his big sister Doris. With the help of seven women, her Sunshine Lady Foundation scrutinizes each request to find people who have come upon bad luck through no fault of their own.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/14/14

A group of MBA students from Western University of Canada's Ivey Business School recently traveled to Omaha to meet Warren Buffett, and were nice enough to publish their notes on-line. There are many interesting business and non-business questions and answers. Here's an excerpt of one of the non-business ones:

Question # 8: How would you rate your own success on a scale of 1-10? Answer # 8: I don't believe I'm very different from others. I still eat the same food, have a good time when I go out with friends, just like others, the only difference is I travel a little better now. I take my jet when I travel. Success for me is doing what you love and are passionate about and as long as you are doing what you like you'll stand out and outperform. If I have to rate myself I'll always believe I'm a 10. I feel that the way the rich often show off their wealth as a form of "elephant bumping". Buying another house would only be an inconvenience, I’d feel obligated to stay in it instead of my current home which is quite comfortable. For example, I don’t like yachts. They only offer the opportunity to do things with greater difficulty at sea, where I feel trapped, that I could have easily done on land (at the Y) for a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, money is not the ultimate measure of success, but rather, it is how many loved ones you have around you.

Toombs nails a billion for MiTek (St. Louis Business Journal)

(This is from 2012, but I saw it this week, and I found it interesting)

As important as the Berkshire purchase was, even more critical to MiTek’s growth was a seed planted in 1990. That’s when the company, at the recommendation of Dave McQuinn, a young MiTek software developer, bought a new software called Microsoft Windows and became an early beta site. [...] With MiTek’s proprietary software, called Sapphire and developed at a cost of more than $100 million, builders who work with MiTek’s customers get three-dimensional computerized structural drawings that detail every part - all MiTek parts, of course - needed to build a structure at the minimum cost. “We sell them everything except the lumber, delivery trucks and forklifts,” Manenti said. [...] Software as sophisticated as Sapphire provides what Buffett calls a moat, a protection against potential competitors. “I don’t care how much you spend on software. You can’t do it in a year,” said McQuinn, 57, now the company’s vice president of software development. “Software takes time, and we have a 10-year head start. We have 80 engineers adding code to this software right now.” Currently MiTek is putting the software into mobile technology.

BNSF Sees Bakken-Area Rail Tie-Up Lasting Until Year-End (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will need the rest of 2014 to untangle train tie-ups in the corridor that serves North Dakota’s Bakken shale region. A system-wide traffic jam, caused by surging grain and crude-oil volumes coupled with harsh weather, is being resolved more quickly on the southern lines linking Chicago and Los Angeles, Chief Executive Officer Carl Ice said yesterday [...] Ice’s forecast underscored the scope of the recovery effort for U.S. railroads after winter storms and rising cargo shipments disrupted operations. BNSF sent 300 additional crew members to its northern region and plans to add 500 locomotives and 5,000 railcars this year to help ease the snarls, Ice said.

Warren Buffett-investee Lubrizol to set up $50 mn CPVC compounding plant in Gujarat (Business Standard)

In what will be Warren Buffett's first investment in Gujarat [India], the Lubrizol Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Thursday announced setting up of a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej. To be set up at an investment of over $ 50 million (Rs 300 crore roughly), the upcoming plant is part of the company's previously announced $400 million global expansion of its resin and compounding manufacturing capacity. What's more, according to senior Lubrizol officials, the company is also exploring possibilities of setting up a CPVC resin manufacturing plant in India. "Many of the raw materials required for Lubrizol's specialty chemical product portfolio are produced in GIDC. Hence, Dahej makes sense due to raw material availability and proximity to South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa markets. [...]" said Eric Schnur, president of Lubrizol Advanced Materials and corporate vice president of Lubrizol Corporation.

Berkshire Hathaway Company Providing Private Jets to Chinese Market (Global Herald)

The business structure of Chinese companies is never simple. China generally demands that foreign companies do business by setting up joint ventures with domestic companies.

A new Berkshire Hathaway company, NetJets, is making the final preparations to launch a private jet service in China. The company has announced that it is awaiting final government approval for an operating certificate, which is expected to be granted in mid-2014. [...] NetJets Business Aviation Limited is part of a joint venture with NetJets Inc.; Hony Jinsi Investment Management (Beijing) Ltd, a subsidiary of Hony Capital, a leading private equity firm of China; and Fung Investments, part of the private investment arm of the families of Dr. Victor Fung and Dr. William Fung, the controlling shareholders of the Li & Fung group of companies.

Lessons From Rebranding a Berkshire Hathaway Consumer Business (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Companies spend an enormous amount of time and money creating a new brand, but when it comes time to launch, they often miss deadlines, communicate poorly with everyone involved, and fail to coordinate the multitude of moving parts. Opportunities are lost to delay, and worse, the company’s image is tarnished. [...] That was the challenge creating Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a new real estate franchise formed when Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate affiliate acquired a majority interest in the Prudential Real Estate network. The Prudential affiliates were free to join the new organization or go elsewhere when their existing contracts expired. In addition, we were acutely aware that poor execution might tarnish the Berkshire Hathaway name, which the company has rarely conferred on consumer businesses.

Berkshire Hathaway sees 38.6% growth in excess and surplus lines in 2013 (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 2013 U.S. excess and surplus lines premiums grew by 38.6% over 2012 to $560.9 million, according to an analysis released by financial information firm SNL Financial L.C. on Monday. Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL said in its report that Berkshire's premium growth represents the largest percentage growth of the top 30 E&S insurers, moving it up five spaces in its ranking to become the 13th-largest E&S writer in the country, and was “well above” the 7.6% increase for the U.S. property/casualty industry as a whole.

Gov. Perry, Warren Buffett attend Katy GEICO ribbon-cutting; 357 new employees added (The Rancher)

Katy is a western suburb of Houston, TX.

Along with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, GEICO announced Wednesday, April 3, that its Katy claims office has already added 357 new employees towards the goal of 1,000 jobs by 2017. The count is very close to meeting GEICO Chairman Tony Nicely’s 2015 goal of 400 associates.

Buffett Will Steer Investors to Airbnb to Avoid Price-Gouging by Omaha Hotels (WSJ MoneyBeat)

The billionaire investor is planning to mention the website at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRKB +0.39%’s upcoming annual shareholders’ meeting on May 3 as a low-cost alternative for shareholders who don’t want to pay the jacked-up rates that Omaha hotels charge while the gathering is taking place every year. [...] According to a recent article in the Berkshire-owned Omaha World-Herald, Mr. Buffett even considered a suggestion by some shareholders to move the meeting to Dallas, a bigger city. However, he was reluctant to leave his beloved Omaha. Instead, he has assigned his financial assistant Tracy Britt Cool to liaise with Airbnb.

Berkshire to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With Fiesta Ducks (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will sell rubber ducks of Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charles Munger wearing Mexican-themed outfits at the company’s annual meeting, which falls two days before Cinco de Mayo. The “fiesta ducks” sport sombreros, multicolored ponchos and -- in Buffett’s case -- a maraca, according to an advertisement in the visitor’s guide to the May 3 event, which will be held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The souvenirs will be sold by Berkshire’s Oriental Trading party-supply business for $5 a pair. Last year, the unit sold rubber ducks of the executives in business suits.

Not going to the annual meeting? You can buy last year's Buffett & Munger business suit ducks on Oriental Trading's website. $3 for the ducks, but $7 for the shipping? Bah. Amazon Prime has spoiled me.

Oriental Trading will also be selling a Berkshire Hathaway-themed Quirkle game at the annual meeting, but that doesn't make as good of a headline.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/3/14

MiTek acquires Ohio HVAC fabricator Ellis & Watts (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

MiTek Industries has acquired Ellis & Watts Global Industries, a designer and fabricator of HVAC products for nuclear and military customers. Chesterfield [Missouri]-based MiTek, a supplier of engineered products, software and equipment for the construction industry that's owned by Berkshire Hathaway, said Batavia, Ohio-based Ellis & Watts will operate as a subsidiary of MiTek. [...] “By offering highly engineered HVAC and other solutions into a wide range of end markets, Ellis & Watts enables MiTek to further expand its Industrial Business segment," Tom Manenti, chairman and CEO of MiTek, said in a statement.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Exec on Acquisitions, Expansion Plans (Insurance Journal)

BHSI’s [Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance] President Peter Eastwood said BHSI is “working hard at some expansion plans in Asia and in Europe as well” while an expansion in Latin America is “a little bit further down the road.” BHSI expects to make expansion moves outside the U.S. sometime in 2014, Eastwood said [...] Insure America LLC is a brokerage operation specializing in the travel agency errors and omissions (E&O) business, Eastwood said, “and we are going to replace the paper that supports it and write that business on our paper.” And MyAssist offers a personal assistance concierge service for motorists, Eastwood explained. [...] “Having call center capabilities within our organization will be of a huge value to us on the claims side,” he said. “It has a huge value to us as we think about expanding our business into different areas — including into the consumer space.”

Unionized Employees Picket NetJets Corporate Office (Yahoo / PR Newswire)

When you read this, note that it's a press release written by the union.

In a powerful display of solidarity, approximately 200 unionized NetJets employees participated in an informational picket across the street from the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary's corporate headquarters to focus attention on escalating attacks on their pay, benefits and working conditions amid record profits. The event was hosted by the NetJets Unions Coalition (NUC) whose formation was announced earlier this month.

NetJets® Newest Jet Model Taking Flight (Business Wire / Marketwatch)

NetJets is the launch partner for the all-new Bombardier Challenger 350. NetJets Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and the worldwide leader in private aviation, announced today that it is flying a demonstration model of the all-new aircraft to more than 20 cities in the U.S. The company is showing the model to current and prospective customers. [...] NetJets will take actual delivery of the first jet this summer. The Challenger 350 jet boasts class-defining performance, 3,780 sm (6,083km) range and will connect New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco to Maui.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Launches National Ad Campaign (Business Wire / Marketwatch)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today launched a national advertising campaign to continue building brand awareness and underscoring the network’s expertise. The campaign, developed by BBDO Minneapolis, positions Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices as a brand that is “Good to know” when buying or selling a home because of its agents’ skill and forward-thinking approaches. [...] The campaign launches with :30 and :15 TV spots airing on national cable networks as well as print and digital advertising in The Wall Street Journal and industry trade publications.

Manhattan Will Get Its First Dairy Queen This Spring (HuffPost)

(Berkshire Hathaway owns Dairy Queen.)

There are 6,400 Dairy Queen locations around the world, and now you can add one more store to that number. Get ready, Manhattan, because you're about to be hit with another Blizzard. 75 years and 27 countries later, Dairy Queen is finally DQ'ing something different, and finding its way to the Big Apple. [...] In 2013, Dairy Queen opened a location just outside Manhattan, but the new location will be at 54 West 14th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.

Detroit-based Fathead to sell Warren Buffett Big Head wall posters for charity (MLive)

When Warren Buffett came to Detroit last fall to announce a $20 million small business lending program with Goldman Sachs, he also visibly spent time with Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert. [...] In the latest Gilbert-Buffett collaboration, Fat Head announced this week that it will be selling a Warren Buffett Big Head, a large cut-out graphic that can be stuck to walls, and is donating proceeds to two Detroit charities. Fathead, which is part of Gilbert's Rock Ventures umbrella company, makes its large wall cutouts for more than 600 licensed brands and has thousands of graphics of athletes, superheroes and celebrities.

You can buy yours here.

Social media maven Warren Buffett's tweeting advice (CNBC + video) http://www.cnbc.com/id/101549253

Warren Buffett, despite what it says in our attempt at irony in the headline, is no expert on social media. [...] That's the joke behind a humorous video from the college Buffett attended more than 60 years ago, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In it, Buffett ("The Oracle") is seen wearing a bright red jacket (the school's color) while hand-checking a massive pile of NCAA brackets in front of him. As he happily finds an error, ("Ha! Another loser"), a bright red desk telephone rings.

Berkshire Energy & Subsidiary News - 1/7/14

Berkshire Stakes Name on Realty Business Buffett Barely Noticed (Bloomberg)

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.

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/27/13

GEICO Passes Allstate to Become 2d Largest U.S. Auto Insurer (Insurance Journal)

Based on third quarter reports, GEICO Corp. has surpassed Allstate Corp. to become the nation’s second-largest private auto insurer. According to data compiled by SNL, GEICO logged $4.89 billion in direct premiums written during the third quarter of 2013, while Allstate recorded $4.65 billion in premiums. State Farm remained firmly in the number one position with $8.7 billion.

More GEICO news at the bottom of this post...

Berkshire grew E&S premiums by 27.6% in third quarter (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. grew its U.S. excess and surplus premiums by about 27.6% year over year in the third quarter, which was higher than the property/casualty insurance industry's overall 5.29% increase, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL Financial L.C. “Industry watchers have been keeping a close eye on Berkshire following the company's announcement in June that it was forming a new division devoted specifically to U.S. E&S business,” said SNL in its analysis. SNL noted that Berkshire ranked within the top 15 in the third quarter, “although its direct premiums written are still a long way from companies like American International Group Inc., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and W. R. Berkley Corp.” Berkshire ranked 13th on SNL's list of third-quarter 2013 market share of U.S. E&S insurers, up from 15th spot in third-quarter 2012.

Fitch: E&S Market Will Feel Impact of Berkshire's Entrance in Coming Quarters (Property Casualty 360)

While Berkshire’s aggressive entrance into the excess and surplus lines space earlier this year through the hiring of top American International Group employees didn’t “significantly alter” the market through the third quarter of 2013, ratings agency Fitch says it expects pricing implications related to this expansion “to materialize in coming quarters.” [...] The report said the formation of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance in the second quarter of 2013 “adds tremendous capacity to an already overcapitalized market, which will likely limit rate hikes and lead to more intense competition in 2014.”

'Buffett's Alpha' Misses The Real Source Of Growth In The New Berkshire Hathaway (Seeking Alpha)

Like many other value investors and Buffett followers I paid passing attention to the headlines and summary articles on "Buffett's Alpha" by Andrea Frazzini, David Kabiller, and Lasse H. Pederson. The summaries were all roughly the same: Buffett achieved smashing success, trouncing the market, but he did so by a simple strategy of buying cheap, low-beta, high-quality stocks and levering his portfolio up by a 1.6 ratio. A secondary observation was that the public holdings of Berkshire Hathaway had outperformed its private holdings (companies owned outright). [...] When glancing at public articles on the "Buffett's Alpha" paper I had lazily let the public-versus-private-holdings assertion pass unexamined until a comment by X.L on my recent article "The Big Five: Which Would You Be Willing to Own If They Closed The Market for 20 Years" raised the question.

Warren Buffett's Biggest Winners (Fool)

It's been almost exactly one month since Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced its latest stock holdings -- and The Motley Fool decided to check in on how the portfolio of the Oracle of Omaha's company is doing. Buffett has had a solid run since the end of September, and based on the roughly $92 billion that Berkshire held, the company has seen the value of its holdings grow by a little more than $4.5 billion, a return of almost 5%. That narrowly trails the S&P 500's return of 5.5% over that same time period. Of course, Buffett's investing ability isn't characterized by 55 days of returns, but Berkshire Hathaway has had a number of remarkable performers since September.

Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Buffett (Bloomberg)

The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels. Turbine prices have fallen 26 percent worldwide since the first half of 2009, bringing wind power within 5.5 percent of the cost of electricity from coal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., yesterday announced an order for 1,050 megawatts of Siemens AG wind turbines in the industry’s largest order to date for land-based gear.

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Names Caudill NV Energy President (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. named Paul Caudill president of NV Energy after completing its purchase of the Nevada utility whose chief executive officer will step down next year. Caudill, 59, had been president of MidAmerican Solar. He'll work with NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira, who plans to retire in June from the Las Vegas-based provider of electricity and natural gas, the companies said today in a statement. NV’s solar projects include facilities near Primm, Nevada and in North Las Vegas.

20-something Buffett protégé freezes paint firm pensions (NY Post)

It’s not just the temperatures that have dipped below freezing at Benjamin Moore headquarters. The 130-year-old paint brand, struggling under the ownership of billionaire Warren Buffett, told employees at its Montvale, NJ, offices last week it has frozen their pension plans, even as it continues to fire workers, as first reported on nypost.com. The lumps of holiday coal come courtesy of Buffett’s 29-year-old financial assistant, Tracy Britt Cool, whom he installed last year as chairman of Benjamin Moore after taking the rare step of firing a former CEO.

Johns Manville Adds Commercial and Residential Mineral Wool Insulation to Product Offering (Business Wire)

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company and leading building products manufacturer, has added commercial and residential mineral wool to its full spectrum of insulation products, allowing customers to meet an even broader range of project demands. JM mineral wool insulation offers a variety of performance benefits in both commercial and residential construction. With a high melting point in excess of 2000°F, mineral wool can help delay fire spread, create quieter buildings and homes, increase privacy between rooms and reduce heating and cooling costs by keeping structures warm in winter and cool in summer.

MiTek Announces SAPPHIRE™ Build, Software Suite for Production Home Builders (Business Wire / Vancouver Sun)

MiTek Industries, Inc. (MiTek), a Berkshire Hathaway company, and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today the introduction of SAPPHIRE Build, a suite of business and workflow management software tools for production home builders. MiTek’s recent acquisition, Kova Solutions, LLC, provides the functional core and framework for SAPPHIRE Build, which is now an end-to-end integrated solution. [...] The introduction of SAPPHIRE Build is the integration of two MiTek solutions that are already in the market: MiTek Blackpoint™ software and Kova. Now they are integrated into a single, re-branded platform.

Warren Buffett donates $10m to Rambam Hospital (Globes)

US billionaire Warren Buffet has donated $10 million to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The contribution was announced by his close friend Eitan Wertheimer at an event last weekend to celebrate 75 years since the hospital's establishment. Wertheimer has been a close friend of Buffett since the sale of the family's precision tool developer and manufacturer Iscar Ltd. to the American's company Berkshire Hathaway. In May 2006, Berkshire Hathaway bought 80% of Iscar for $4 billion, and in May this year it exercised an option to buy the remaining 20% for $2.05 billion.

Hot Doughboy: Pillsbury Mascot Crashes Geico Commercial (ABC News)

Move over, gecko. A new commercial for Geico stars not the insurer's famous lizard but the Pillsbury Doughboy. Huh? How can that pairing possibly make sense? [...] The TV spot, by the Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., is the most recent in Geico's "Happier Than ..." series of commercials, each of which asks "How happy are people who switch to Geico?" In this case, the answer is: "Happier than the Pillsbury Doughboy on his way to a baking convention."

The commercial is here on YouTube, with nearly 1.9 million views.

Berkshire News Briefs - 11/8/13

Berkshire Hathaway Releases Scathing Response To Scripps’ Allegations (ValueWalk)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. doesn’t usually respond to criticism, preferring to explain its decisions in the company’s famous annual shareholders letter, but it seems that Mark Greenblatt at Scripps News has hit a nerve. “Over a century ago, Mark Twain observed ‘Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.’ We are about to ignore Twain’s sage advice,” the company wrote in a press release.

Here is the Berkshire Hathaway press release.

MiTek Acquires Cubic Designs, 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 Cubic Designs, Inc. Cubic is the recognized leader in the design, prefabrication and installation of custom work platforms and structural mezzanine systems used in distribution, processing, manufacturing, aerospace, and other types of operating facilities.

BH Media CEO: No new newspaper deals in the works (Lynchburg News & Advance / AP)

The head of Warren Buffett’s newspaper subsidiary said Wednesday that the company is not working on any new newspaper deals despite its reported interest in possibly acquiring parts of Tribune Co. BH Media Group President and CEO Terry Kroeger said during the annual conference of Associated Press Media Editors in Indianapolis that he wishes the company had some new newspaper acquisitions in the works, but it does not.

Inside look at NetJets' $13M investment at PBIA (South Florida Business Journal Slideshow)

Berkshire Hathaway's private airline, NetJets, unveiled its $13 million facility at Palm Beach International Airport on Wednesday. NetJets partnered with Signature Flight Support Corp. to develop the 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, which is located on the northwest corner of the West Palm Beach airport. PBIA is one of the airline's most popular domestic destinations, with more than 10,000 NetJets flights in and out of the airport annually.

Revisiting Berkshire Hathaway’s Acquisition of BNSF (Rational Walk)

Four years have passed since Berkshire Hathaway announced that it would acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) in a cash and stock transaction. The acquisition was explicitly meant to be an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States” according to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In November 2009, the United States was starting to emerge from the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression and purchasing a major railroad was a controversial move based on what appeared to be a relatively full valuation. Enough time has now passed to revisit the rationale behind the acquisition and to judge how the railroad has performed in the midst of a slow economic recovery.

1 More Reason Berkshire Hathaway's GEICO Is Destined To Be King (Fool Video)

The personal auto insurance market is one of the toughest spaces to compete in the broader insurance market. And with Berkshire Hathaway's GEICO division stealing the No. 2 spot from competitor Allstate in the past few weeks, it's become clear that the Gecko is doing something right. Though Allstate and Progressive have been promoting the new use-based insurance model, the new technology is still not standing up to GEICO's tried-and-true method.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Expands BOP Product to California (Insurance Journal)

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies (formerly known as GUARD Insurance Group) has begun offering its business owners policy (BOP) and umbrella coverage in California. The company already has a presence in the state offering workers’ compensation with a premium total of about $100 million and is looking to provide a complement to this coverage, while continuing its focus on small- to medium-sized accounts. [...] Berkshire Hathaway GUARD first began writing other lines in Pennsylvania five years ago and has since launched a full complement of products under the name of BizGUARD Plus in 11 states. [...] In October of 2012, GUARD Insurance Group was acquired by National Indemnity Co., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. This fall, GUARD unveiled a new logo and identity as Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies.

Buffett's Purchase Of Prudential Realty Is A Good Sign For Real Estate (Seeking Alpha)

On October 30, 2012, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) made the investment community sit up and take notice with a move into a significant area of our economy. This time, he did it with a bold move into the real estate market with the purchase of local Prudential agencies by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. We are already noticing the new real estate for sale signs here in Naples, Florida. [...] Going national by using an established brand like Prudential shows that he is serious in his intention to make large gains in this area. [...] The "Berkshire" name will give the Prudential real estate agents increased credibility.

More Real Estate News

Prudential Real Estate agencies switched their names to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Houston, Kansas City, Portland, and Allentown PA (which brought in Mario Andretti for a kick-off party). Many more brokerages have also joined Berkshire Hathaway in California, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado, with plans to switch names to the new brand in 2014. Like I said last week, there are so many of these little stories, I stopped linking to all of them and am now just summarizing.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/21/13

Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary to Buy U.K. Beverage Business for $1.1 Billion (Fool)

Marmon, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, today announced it will acquire the beverage dispense and merchandising divisions of IMI plc, a U.K-based engineering firm, for $1.1 billion. After regulatory approval, it is expected the deal will be closed in the early part of next year. [...] The retail dispense business in total has approximately 3,100 employees that will transfer with the acquisition by Marmon. Last year it had revenues of approximately $675 million and operating profit of approximately $100 million. Marmon, which is an industrial subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, has approximately 160 manufacturing and servicing business that are independent from one another. It employs 17,000 people had revenues exceeding $7 billion last year.

IMI Sells Dispenser Business to Berkshire for $1.1 Billion (Bloomberg)

IMI’s decision in March to explore options for its soda-pop dispenser, used by Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and McDonald’s Corp., prompted Marmon to make an unsolicited approach, it said today in a statement. Shareholders of the Birmingham, England-based IMI will receive 620 million pounds ($991 million) of the proceeds, with an additional 70 million-pound pension contribution planned. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire will use IMI’s beverage dispensers and mixers, which are also benefiting from growing demand for chilled beers served on tap, to boost the retail and food operations of its Marmon business. IMI chief executive officer Martin Lamb, who is preparing to step down after 13 year in the role, is disposing of the business to fully focus on selling fluid technologies and control systems for chemical plants as well as the oil and gas industry.

Buffett Adds Stocks in Pension Handoff to Lieutenants (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Warren Buffett is betting that his deputy investment managers can find value hiding in a corner of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: its $10.4 billion in pension assets. Todd Combs, 42, and Ted Weschler, 52, have been building stock portfolios with funds they oversee for defined-benefit plans at Berkshire subsidiaries, including railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The strategy saves Buffett’s company fees it would pay to outside asset managers and could reduce the need for contributions to the pensions. [...] Reallocating pension assets is one way Buffett, 83, can assign more funds to Weschler and Combs without liquidating some of his own long-held investments. [...] The amount of funds the deputies oversee more than doubled to about $5 billion each, the billionaire wrote in March. Combs and Weschler were each hired in the past three years.

Two Brazilian Brothers to Pay Nearly $5 Million in Insider Trading Case (NY TImes)

The bet came on Feb. 13, just a day before Berkshire Hathaway and the investment firm 3G Capital announced a $23 billion takeover of Heinz. The trade went through a Swiss Goldman Sachs brokerage account owned by an entity based in the Cayman Islands. [...] The S.E.C., which acted quickly in February to freeze the assets in the Swiss account, has now amended its complaint to name two Brazilian brothers as the culprits. The brothers — Rodrigo and Michel Terpins — agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle the charges. Michel Terpins, 36, set the chain of events in motion, according to the S.E.C. After receiving a confidential tip that the Heinz deal was looming, the agency said, he alerted his brother. Rodrigo Terpins, 40, then served as the trader. While vacationing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., the S.E.C. said, he bought nearly $90,000 in options contracts in Heinz. News of the takeover deal sent Heinz’s shares, and the value of the options contracts, soaring. According to the S.E.C., the brothers’ positions rose nearly 2,000 percent and they reaped over $1.8 million.

MiTek Acquires Kova Solutions, LLC (Business Wire)

MiTek Industries, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company , and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today that it has acquired Kova Solutions, LLC. Kova offers business process and operational management software for residential production builders that integrates and controls the entire business operations with one complete end-to-end system. [...] “The addition of Kova expands MiTek’s software offering very effectively into the builder side of the residential construction market. Kova is a complement to our current SAPPHIRE software offering and a key addition to the MiTek family,” stated Tom Manenti, Chairman and CEO of MiTek.

Benjamin Moore names veteran retailer as CEO (North Jersey News)

Benjamin Moore, the Montvale-based paint maker, has hired retail veteran Michael Searles to be its third chief executive officer in two years, the company said Monday. Searles, 64, who has spent 40 years leading retail companies such as Kids "R" Us, Wilson's Leather and Factory 2-U Stores Inc., replaces Robert S. Merritt, whose departure from the company was announced Sept. 27.

Finishing touch: Benjamin Moore's Newark paint plant reopens following Hurricane Sandy (NJ News)

It has been nearly a year since Hurricane Sandy sent 6 feet of water rushing into the Newark plant from the banks of the Passaic River, damaging or destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment and shuttering the facility. As for the 130-year-old paint maker, recent events have dulled the shine from its premium brand paint. Benjamin Moore, which has less than 10 percent market share, has cut its workforce by 15 percent in recent years, and this month hired its third chief executive in two years. The news was brighter last week, when the company’s latest CEO Michael Searles joined with Britt to celebrate the Newark manufacturing plant’s official reopening. [...] The building’s high-tech paint-filling lines recently returned to service as have the plant’s 55 employees, who average a quarter century on the job.

Buffett GE Profit Trails Wall Street Bets as Warrants Expire (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s $3 billion bet on General Electric Co. during the 2008 financial crisis is proving less profitable than similar wagers by Chairman Warren Buffett on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Berkshire is poised to get about $260 million in GE shares through warrants Buffett received as part of a capital injection into Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE.

Why Buffett's $10 Billion Haul Won't Be the Last (Fool)

Warren Buffett's investing genius pays off once again. Berkshire Hathaway has now racked up a whopping $10 billion profit on investments made during the financial crisis. That's no small sum, although against the backdrop of a company worth more than $280 billion, it isn't a game-changing sum, either. But focusing on the total return really misses the point: Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is poised to do this time and time again.

Buffett’s Back Bench (WSJ)

This is a slideshow of 10 of the top executives from Berkshire Hathaway's many subsidiaries.

At 83 years old, Warren Buffett has not publicly named his successor. Some analysts and investors are also concerned about succession and retention at Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries after Mr. Buffett is no longer in charge. Here are some of Mr. Buffett’s lieutenants.

'Cool' enough to be Warren Buffett's successor? (Upstart Business Journal)

[...] if Tracy Britt Cool is the mysterious new chief executive officer, how might she overcome scrutiny this week over executive turmoil at paint maker Benjamin Moore & Co., one of four Berkshire Hathaway portfolio companies that she’s appointed by Buffett to oversee? [...] In recent years, she’s been given major responsibilities, like chairing the boards of New Jersey-based Benjamin Moore, Omaha’s Oriental Trading Co., the Denver insulation maker Johns Manville and Atlanta custom framer Larson-Juhl. In 2012, Fortune Magazine named her to its 40 Under 40 list, and earlier this year, she was a Forbes 30 Under 30 winner in the finance category.

Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate

Finally, many of the Prudential Real Estate agencies that Berkshire Hathaway's HomeServices bought over the past year officially changed their names to "Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate" recently, but I've gotten tired of posting all those little, local real estate business stories. Just keep in mind that the re-branding is in full swing.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/15/13

AIG Said to Opt Against Buffett Reinsurance Amid Clash (Bloomberg)

American International Group Inc. (AIG) has decided against signing new reinsurance contracts with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. after Warren Buffett’s company started a commercial insurer competing against AIG, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. [...] Buffett said in May he was planning to add sales of commercial insurance after hiring executives from AIG including Peter Eastwood, who ran the company’s property-casualty operation in the Americas. The move challenges New York-based AIG in one of its main markets and expands Berkshire beyond its strengths in U.S. personal auto coverage and reinsurance.

Berkshire ‘A’ Shares, Soon Available In Pennies (WSJ)

Starting Sept. 16, the New York Stock Exchange plans to begin trading and quoting Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in pennies, according to a Thursday notice from the exchange. That means that the stock’s mammoth price – $168,180 on Thursday afternoon – will move in one-cent increments, rather than the current ten cents.

Improved Underwriting Results Boost RAA Companies' 1H Net Income (Property Casualty 360)

A group of 18 reinsurers belonging to the Reinsurance Association of America reported a combined 2013 first-half net income of just under $4.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion for the same companies a year ago, as improved underwriting income more than offset a slight drop in net premiums written. Similar to 2012’s first half, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity Co. accounted for over half of the group’s net income in the first six months of this year. National Indemnity reported just under $3 billion in first-half net income, far outpacing Transatlantic Reinsurance, which placed second among the group with $364.4 million in net income.

U.S. judge approves $72 mln fraud pact with Berkshire's Gen Re (Reuters)

A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $72 million settlement by Berkshire Hathaway Inc's General Re Corp to resolve claims that it engaged in a sham deal that helped fraudulently inflate American International Group Inc's loss reserves. The settlement's approval brings to an end nine years of shareholder litigation revolving around AIG accounting practices dating to 1999.

Shaw Industries opens carpet tile plant in China (Fibre 2 Fashion)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) has announced its grand opening of a 210,000-square-foot carpet tile plant in Nantong, China – a port city 65 miles north of Shanghai. This facility offers customers in Asia quicker access to a wider range of completely recyclable, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified products, which are PVC-free and bitumen-free. [...] Expected to employ approximately 250 at full capacity, over 100 Shaw associates are onboard at this time. [...] Products manufactured in China will be sold for installation in the growing Asia market and there are no plans to export them back to the U.S.

SidePlate’s Active Projects More Than Double in 36 Months (Herald Online)

SidePlate®, a Berkshire Hathaway company that designs innovative steel building connections, today announced that it has doubled its employee base in the last 36 months to accommodate rising demand for its consulting and project-management services. As another indicator of the Company’s dramatic growth, SidePlate’s active projects have more than doubled since July 2010. [...] In 2009, Berkshire Hathaway’s MiTek® acquired SidePlate because of the Company’s sterling reputation, its innovative consulting services and technology, and its potential for the very growth that SidePlate is experiencing today.

Truss and Wall-Panel Component Manufacturers Stand Ready to Respond to Framing Labor Shortage (Herald Online)

“Housing starts are showing sustained growth, and they are predicted to spike to a run rate of 1.3 million by the end of 2014, and 1.5 million in 2015,” said MiTek’s Gregg Renner. “That’s good news, but it also indicates that the framing labor shortage won’t ease, and builders need a different approach to framing houses. That’s what MiTek’s component manufacturers offer.”

Berkshire’s Richline Makes Jewelry Deal With American Greetings (Bloomberg)

Richline Group Inc., owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., reached a deal to make and distribute jewelry featuring the artwork from cards produced by American Greetings Corp. [...] Richline also has relationships with the Marie Claire brand and the National Football League.

Borsheims to open second location at Nebraska Crossing Outlets (Omaha World-Herald)

For more than a half-century, Borsheims, Omaha's iconic jeweler, has limited itself to a single store. But this fall the Berkshire Hathaway-owned retailer will break tradition and open a second location — an outlet store at Nebraska Crossing Outlets in Gretna. The outlet store, opening Nov. 15 under the banner Borsheims Boutique, will occupy a 5,500-square-foot space next to the Coach factory store.

BNSF to spend $110 million on projects in Nebraska (Omaha World-Herald)

BNSF Railway Co. on Thursday announced plans to invest about $110 million this year in maintenance and rail capacity expansion projects in Nebraska. [...] BNSF also plans to invest $35 million this year in Iowa, which is part of the railroad’s total 2013 capital investment of $4.3 billion, a record for the company. [...] Omaha-based Union Pacific’s 2013 capital investment numbers aren’t yet available, but last year the company spent about $303 million in Nebraska and $3.7 billion total on its network.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signs Nine More Affiliates (Fort Mill Times)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today announced the signing of nine more brokerage companies for the network. The companies include: Prudential Anderson Properties, Houston, TX; Prudential California Realty, Cerritos, CA; Prudential Canyon Lake Realty, Canyon Lake, CA; Prudential Gallo, REALTORS®, Rehoboth Beach, DE; Prudential Serls Prime Properties, Lagrangeville, NY; Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties, Savannah, GA; Prudential Texas Realty, Austin, TX; Prudential Tropical Realty, Tampa Bay, FL; and Prudential Woodmont Realty, Nashville, TN. The brokerages will begin operating under the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices flag as early as the fourth quarter of 2013. They are the latest in a series of brokerage signees announced by the new real estate network, whose total members now represent more than $1 billion in annual gross commission income.