巴菲特致股东的信（1996年）③1996年的并购案

Acquisitions of 1996

We made two acquisitions in 1996, both possessing exactly the qualities we seek - excellent business economics and an outstanding manager.

1996年的并购案

我们在 1996 年进行了两次并购，两家公司皆拥有我们想要的特质：绝佳的商业模式与优秀的经理人。

The first acquisition was Kansas Bankers Surety (KBS), an insurance company whose name describes its specialty. The company, which does business in 22 states, has an extraordinary underwriting record, achieved through the efforts of Don Towle, an extraordinary manager. Don has developed first-hand relationships with hundreds of bankers and knows every detail of his operation. He thinks of himself as running a company that is "his," an attitude we treasure at Berkshire. Because of its relatively small size, we placed KBS with Wesco, our 80%-owned subsidiary, which has wanted to expand its insurance operations.

第一笔并购是堪萨斯银行家保险公司，从字面上可知，这是一家专门提供银行保险的保险公司，在全美 22 个州从事相关业务，拥有相当不错的承保记录，全仰赖 Don Towle 这位杰出的经理人的努力，Don 与上百位银行家皆保持良好的关系，而且也了解他所从事业务的每一项细节，那种感觉就好象是在经营“自己”的事业一样，这种精神是伯克希尔最欣赏的，由于它的规模不大，伯克希尔持有 80%股权的 Wesco 正有意拓展其保险业务，所以我们决定把它跟 Wesco 放在一起。(公司为超过监管限定的银行存款的资金提供保险，承保抢劫，欺诈，伪造钱币和票据等欺诈行为。以及为高管提供责任保险，雇员保险，养老金和共同基金保险等，公司向超过 1200 家银行提供保险服务，经营收益超过 700 万美元。综合比率 65-70%，远远好于保险业平均水平。)

You might be interested in the carefully-crafted and sophisticated acquisition strategy that allowed Berkshire to nab this deal. Early in 1996 I was invited to the 40th birthday party of my nephew's wife, Jane Rogers. My taste for social events being low, I immediately, and in my standard, gracious way, began to invent reasons for skipping the event. The party planners then countered brilliantly by offering me a seat next to a man I always enjoy, Jane's dad, Roy Dinsdale - so I went.

大家或许会对我们这次精心设计的并购计划感到兴趣，在 1996 年初我受邀参加侄媳妇 Jane Rogers 40 岁的生日宴会，由于我个人对于社交活动通常不太感兴趣，所以很自然地我按照惯例想出许多理由以婉拒这项邀请，不过对方显然有备而来，特别将我安排在另外一位我极有兴趣打交道的对象 Roy Dinsdale(Jane 的父亲)的旁边，此举使得我无法拒绝而欣然赴会。

The party took place on January 26. Though the music was loud - Why must bands play as if they will be paid by the decibel? - I just managed to hear Roy say he'd come from a directors meeting at Kansas Bankers Surety, a company I'd always admired. I shouted back that he should let me know if it ever became available for purchase.

生日宴会在 1 月 26 日举行，虽然当时现场音乐震耳欲聋(我实在搞不懂为何乐队总是要弹得那么大声，难道他们的出场费是按照分贝数计算的吗？)，不过我还是听到 Roy 说他刚参加完堪萨斯银行家保险的董事会，这是我一直相当欣赏的一家公司，我大声地响应他说，如果这家公司有意出售的话，记得一定要通知我。

On February 12, I got the following letter from Roy: "Dear Warren: Enclosed is the annual financial information on Kansas Bankers Surety. This is the company that we talked about at Janie's party. If I can be of any further help, please let me know." On February 13, I told Roy we would pay $75 million for the company - and before long we had a deal. I'm now scheming to get invited to Jane's next party.

2 月 12 日我收到一封 Roy 的来函，上面写到：亲爱的沃伦，随函附送一份堪萨斯银行家保险的年度财务报表，就是上次在 Jane 的生日宴会上提到的那一家公司，如果你有任何需要，请务必让我知道。2 月 13日，我告诉 Roy 愿意出 7,500 万美元买下这家公司，不久之后，整个交易就搞定，现在的我正盘算明年还要再参加 Jane 的生日宴会。

Our other acquisition in 1996 - FlightSafety International, the world's leader in the training of pilots - was far larger, at about $1.5 billion, but had an equally serendipitous origin. The heroes of this story are first, Richard Sercer, a Tucson aviation consultant, and second, his wife, Alma Murphy, an ophthalmology graduate of Harvard Medical School, who in 1990 wore down her husband's reluctance and got him to buy Berkshire stock. Since then, the two have attended all our Annual Meetings, but I didn't get to know them personally.

1996 年发生的另一件并购案，全球最大的飞行员训练公司，飞安国际公司，其规模比起前一个案子要大得多了，总金额高达 15 亿美元，不过这个案子发生的过程一样充满戏剧性，本案的功臣首推 Richard Sercer，他是塔克森市的飞行顾问，当然还要归功于他的妻子 Alma Murphy，哈佛医学院眼科学系毕业的她好不容易在 1990 年说服她的丈夫买进伯克希尔的股份，而且在那之后每年都到奥马哈参加我们的股东会，只是我一直没有机会与他们认识。

Fortunately, Richard had also been a long-time shareholder of FlightSafety, and it occurred to him last year that the two companies would make a good fit. He knew our acquisition criteria, and he thought that Al Ueltschi, FlightSafety's 79-year-old CEO, might want to make a deal that would both give him a home for his company and a security in payment that he would feel comfortable owning throughout his lifetime. So in July, Richard wrote Bob Denham, CEO of Salomon Inc, suggesting that he explore the possibility of a merger.

碰巧的是，Richard 同时也是飞安国际公司长期投资的股东，刚好在去年他认为这两家公司应该有机会可以做一个结合，他相当了解伯克希尔并购公司的标准，同时也知道飞安国际 79 岁的 CEO 阿尔·乌尔斯基(AlUeltschi)想要为自己的公司找一个理想的归宿，又能为自己的股权找到一层保障，所以就在七月份，Richard 写信给所罗门公司的总裁 Bob Denham 请他研究这项合并交易的可能性。

Bob took it from there, and on September 18, Al and I met in New York. I had long been familiar with FlightSafety's business, and in about 60 seconds I knew that Al was exactly our kind of manager. A month later, we had a contract. Because Charlie and I wished to minimize the issuance of Berkshire shares, the transaction we structured gave FlightSafety shareholders a choice of cash or stock but carried terms that encouraged those who were tax-indifferent to take cash. This nudge led to about 51% of FlightSafety's shares being exchanged for cash, 41% for Berkshire A and 8% for Berkshire B.

Bob 于是接手了这个并购案，在 9 月 18 日我和 Al 正式在纽约碰面，我对飞安国际公司的经营状况本来就相当熟悉，并且在 60 秒内我马上就知道 Al 正是符合我们类型的经理人，10 月正式签约，由于查理跟我希望尽量避免再次发行伯克希尔股份，所以在该交易中，虽然我们提供飞安国际原股东换取股票或现金两种选择(每股 50 美元现金或 48 美元 BRK 股票)，但是交易条件等于间接鼓励这些税负没有太大差异的股东选择领取现金，结果总计最后有 51%的股份领取现金，41%换得伯克希尔 A 级普通股，另外 8%换得伯克希尔 B 级普通股。

Al has had a lifelong love affair with aviation and actually piloted Charles Lindbergh. After a barnstorming career in the 1930s, he began working for Juan Trippe, Pan Am's legendary chief. In 1951, while still at Pan Am, Al founded FlightSafety, subsequently building it into a simulator manufacturer and a worldwide trainer of pilots (single-engine, helicopter, jet and marine). The company operates in 41 locations, outfitted with 175 simulators of planes ranging from the very small, such as Cessna 210s, to Boeing 747s. Simulators are not cheap - they can cost as much as $19 million - so this business, unlike many of our operations, is capital intensive. About half of the company's revenues are derived from the training of corporate pilots, with most of the balance coming from airlines and the military.

Al 一生热爱飞行，曾经驾驶过查理林登号，在经过 1930 年代轰轰烈烈的飞行事业之后，他开始担任泛美航空的机长，之后在 1951 年创立飞安国际公司，将这家公司塑造成飞行模拟器制造商与飞行员训练的世界级领导公司(单引擎、直升机、客机与舰载机)，公司运营 41 个分部，拥有 175 座飞行模拟器，大至波音 747 客机，小到 Cessna 210 型小飞机，大家要知道飞行模拟器的造价可不便宜，有的要价甚至高达 1,900 万美金，所以这一行不像我们拥有的其它事业，算是资本密集型业务，该公司大约有一半的营业收入来自于训练飞行员的收入，其余则来自于航空公司与军方。

Al may be 79, but he looks and acts about 55. He will run operations just as he has in the past: We never fool with success. I have told him that though we don't believe in splitting Berkshire stock, we will split his age 2-for-1 when he hits 100.

Al 今年虽然已经 79 岁，不过外表举止看起来像 55 岁，他将一如往常继续经营这家公司，我们从来不会愚弄成功的，我甚至跟他开玩笑说，虽然我们从没想过将伯克希尔的股份予以分割，不过等他满 100 岁时，我们倒是可以考虑把他的年纪一分为二。

An observer might conclude from our hiring practices that Charlie and I were traumatized early in life by an EEOC bulletin on age discrimination. The real explanation, however, is self-interest: It's difficult to teach a new dog old tricks. The many Berkshire managers who are past 70 hit home runs today at the same pace that long ago gave them reputations as young slugging sensations. Therefore, to get a job with us, just employ the tactic of the 76-year-old who persuaded a dazzling beauty of 25 to marry him. "How did you ever get her to accept?" asked his envious contemporaries. The comeback: "I told her I was 86."

有人可能会怀疑我们现在的人事政策，可能是缘于早期年龄歧视政策所受到的创伤，其实真正的原因乃是出于自私的观点，因为我们认为实在是很难教新狗老把戏！在伯克希尔，许多经理人虽然已经年过 70，但是他们还是像年轻时一样活跃，频频击出全垒打，所以如果各位有意到本公司谋得一职，请记得运用一位高龄 76 岁老翁如何追到 25 岁年轻辣妹的技巧，当同年龄的同伴很钦羡地问他：你到底是如何说服对方同意的呢？？他回答到：很简单，我告诉她我今年 86 岁！

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And now we pause for our usual commercial: If you own a large business with good economic characteristics and wish to become associated with an exceptional collection of businesses having similar characteristics, Berkshire may well be the home you seek. Our requirements are set forth on page 21. If your company meets them - and if I fail to make the next birthday party you attend - give me a call.

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接下来休息一下，顺便做点广告，如果你拥有具极佳竞争优势的大企业同时想要与拥有同样特质的企业群为伍的话，伯克希尔可以提供你绝佳的归宿，我们的要求条件在后文列出，若是你的公司符合这些条件，而我又没能来得及参加你的生日派对，记得打电话给我。

Acquisitions of 1996 We made two acquisitions in 1996, both possessing exactly the qualities we seek - excellent business economics and an outstanding manager.

Al may be 79, but he looks and acts about 55. He will run operations just as he has in the past: We never fool with success. I have told him that though we don't believe in splitting Berkshire stock, we will split his age 2-for-1 when he hits 100.

Acquisitions of 1996

We made two acquisitions in 1996, both possessing exactly the qualities we seek - excellent business economics and an outstanding manager.