巴菲特致股东的信（2002年）②并购活动

Acquisitions

We added some sluggers to our lineup last year. Two acquisitions pending at yearend 2001 were completed: Albecca (which operates under the name Larson-Juhl), the U.S. leader in custom-made picture frames; and Fruit of the Loom, the producer of about 33.3% of the men’s and boy’s underwear sold in the U.S. and of other apparel as well.

并购活动

去年我们的打击阵容又增添了好几位强打者，两个 2001 年就开始谈的并购在去年完成：全美高级定制画框的领导厂商 Albecca 阿尔贝卡，经营乐森卓尔品牌(Larson-Juhl)；以及鲜果布衣公司(Fruit of the Loom)，全美约有 1/3 的男士及儿童内衣系由该公司制造，当然该公司还销售其它服装。

Both companies came with outstanding CEOs: Steve McKenzie at Albecca and John Holland at Fruit. John, who had retired from Fruit in 1996, rejoined it three years ago and rescued the company from the disastrous path it had gone down after he’d left. He’s now 70, and I am trying to convince him to make his next retirement coincident with mine (presently scheduled for five years after my death – a date subject, however, to extension).

两家公司都由相当优秀的经理人管理，阿尔贝卡有史蒂夫·麦肯齐(SteveMaKenzie)，而鲜果布衣则有约翰·霍兰德(JohnHolland)，后者在 1996 年自该公司退休，三年前又重新加入以挽救该公司免于毁灭的命运。他今年70 岁，现在我正努力说服他跟我同进退(目前我个人计划死后 5 年再办理退休，并且有可能会视状况予以延长)。

We initiated and completed two other acquisitions last year that were somewhat below our normal size threshold. In aggregate, however, these businesses earn more than $60 million pre-tax annually. Both operate in industries characterized by tough economics, but both also have important competitive strengths that enable them to earn decent returns on capital.

此外，去年我们另外又完成的其它两件规模较小的并购案，不过两家公司加起来的年度税前获利超过 6000万美元，虽然两者所处的产业竞争都相当激烈，但却同样拥有相当的竞争优势，使得我们的投资依然能够维持不错的回报率。

The newcomers are:

这两位新成员分别是：

(a)CTB, a worldwide leader in equipment for the poultry, hog, egg production and grain industries; and

(a)CTB——全世界鸡猪等农畜养殖设备的领导厂商；

(b)Garan, a manufacturer of children’s apparel, whose largest and best-known line is Garanimals®.

(b)Garan——童装生产厂商，旗下著名品牌是 Garanimals®。

These two companies came with the managers responsible for their impressive records: Vic Mancinelli at CTB and Seymour Lichtenstein at Garan.

两家公司的经理人过去都拥有令人印象深刻的成绩，CTB 的维克·曼奇内利(Vic Mancinelli)，Garan 的西摩·利希滕斯坦(Seymour Lichtenstein)。

The largest acquisition we initiated in 2002 was The Pampered Chef, a company with a fascinating history dating back to 1980. Doris Christopher was then a 34-year-old suburban Chicago home economics teacher with a husband, two little girls, and absolutely no business background. Wanting, however, to supplement her family’s modest income, she turned to thinking about what she knew best – food preparation. Why not, she wondered, make a business out of marketing kitchenware, focusing on the items she herself had found most useful?

至于在 2002 年开始进行的并购案中，规模最大的是欢乐大厨(ThePamperedChef，TPC)——这也是一家拥有辉煌历史的传奇公司，时间回溯到 1980 年，当时 34 岁的多丽丝·克里斯托弗(DorisChristopher)还是一位芝加哥郊区的家政教师，与先生育有 2 个小女儿的她，完全就没有任何商业经验，为了要补贴家庭微薄的收入，她想到运用本身最拿手的绝活——烹饪，她在想为什么不以销售厨具为业务，专注于她自己认为最有用的东西呢?

To get started, Doris borrowed $3,000 against her life insurance policy – all the money ever injected into the company – and went to the Merchandise Mart on a buying expedition. There, she picked up a dozen each of this and that, and then went home to set up operations in her basement.

为了要创业，多丽丝利用寿险保单质借了 3,000 美元，这也是她仅有的一次资金投入，然后到大卖场进行一趟采购之旅，买了一大堆烹饪餐具，然后回到家里的地下室展开事业。

Her plan was to conduct in-home presentations to small groups of women, gathered at the homes of their friends. While driving to her first presentation, though, Doris almost talked herself into returning home, convinced she was doomed to fail.

她的计划是集合一群女性友人到其朋友家里进行展示，记得在第一次出发公开展示的路上，多丽丝几乎要说服自己放弃打道回府。

But the women she faced that evening loved her and her products, purchased $175 of goods, and TPC was underway. Working with her husband, Jay, Doris did $50,000 of business in the first year. Today – only 22 years later – TPC does more than $700 million of business annually, working through 67,000 kitchen consultants.

所幸当晚她所遇到的女性朋友们相当喜爱她及她的产品，总共买了 175 美元的东西，TPC 于此诞生，在她的先生 Jay 的帮忙之下，多丽丝头一年总共做了 50,000 美元的生意，22 年后的今天，TPC 的年营业额高达 7 亿美元，共有 67,000名餐饮顾问。

I’ve been to a TPC party, and it’s easy to see why the business is a success. The company’s products, in large part proprietary, are well-styled and highly useful, and the consultants are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Everyone has a good time. Hurry to pamperedchef.com on the Internet to find where to attend a party near you.

我自己也曾经参加过 TPC 的宴会，很轻易地就能发现这个行业成功的原因，公司的产品大部分都是独家专用、造型设计优美且深具实用性，而餐饮顾问的经验丰富且非常热心，这使得与会的每一位客人都尽兴而归，赶快上 pamperedchef.com 网站看看如何才能就近参加她们所举办的派对。

Two years ago, Doris brought in Sheila O’Connell Cooper, now CEO, to share the management load, and in August they met with me in Omaha. It took me about ten seconds to decide that these were two managers with whom I wished to partner, and we promptly made a deal. Berkshire shareholders couldn’t be luckier than to be associated with Doris and Sheila.

两年前，多丽丝找到现任CEO——谢拉·奥康奈尔·库帕(SheilaO'ConnellCooper)加入，以分担管理重责，两人在八月联袂来到奥马哈与我会面，我前后只花了 10 秒钟的时间就确定我想要这两个人加入我们的团队，当下双方就签订合约，能够与多丽丝和谢拉在一起共事，伯克希尔的股东实在是再幸运也不过了。

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Berkshire also made some important acquisitions last year through MidAmerican Energy Holdings (MEHC), a company in which our equity interest is 80.2%. Because the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) limits us to 9.9% voting control, however, we are unable to fully consolidate MEHC’s financial statements.

去年伯克希尔通过持股 80.2%的中美能源进行了几项重要的并购案，由于公用事业控股公司法(PUHCA)限制我们只能拥有该公司 9.9%的投票权，所以我们无法将中美能源财报，完全并到伯克希尔财报之中。

Despite the voting-control limitation – and the somewhat strange capital structure at MEHC it has engendered – the company is a key part of Berkshire. Already it has $18 billion of assets and delivers our largest stream of non-insurance earnings. It could well grow to be huge.

尽管受限于投票控制权的限制，使得中美能源现在的资本结构有点奇怪，但该公司仍然是伯克希尔非常重要的一部分，目前它的资产总额达到 180 亿美元，并成为伯克希尔非保险事业收益的主要来源，展望未来，其成长依然可期。

Last year MEHC acquired two important gas pipelines. The first, Kern River, extends from Southwest Wyoming to Southern California. This line moves about 900 million cubic feet of gas a day and is undergoing a $1.2 billion expansion that will double throughput by this fall. At that point, the line will carry enough gas to generate electricity for ten million homes.

去年中美能源买下了两条重要的天然气管线，第一条是科恩河管线(KernRiver,4.5 亿现金+承担 5.1 亿债务)，从怀俄明州到南加州方向共 926 英里，每天运送 9 亿立方英尺的天然气，且目前我们又另外投资 12 亿美元进行扩充(700 英里)，预计在今年秋天完工后，运输能量可增加一倍，届时将可满足 1 千万家庭用户所需。

The second acquisition, Northern Natural Gas, is a 16,600 mile line extending from the Southwest to a wide range of Midwestern locations. This purchase completes a corporate odyssey of particular interest to Omahans.

第二条路线则是从美国德州西南部一路延伸到中西部奥马哈地区，全长 16600 英里，名为北方天然气的管线(NorthernNatural Gas)，这项并购案更是引起奥马哈地区居民的注意，传为企业美谈。

From its beginnings in the 1930s, Northern Natural was one of Omaha’s premier businesses, run by CEOs who regularly distinguished themselves as community leaders. Then, in July, 1985, the company – which in 1980 had been renamed InterNorth – merged with Houston Natural Gas, a business less than half its size. The companies announced that the enlarged operation would be headquartered in Omaha, with InterNorth’s CEO continuing in that job.

自从 1930 年代初期，北方天然气公司一直是奥马哈地区著名的企业之一，由地方上流社会的领导人士所经营，不过该公司在 1985 年(1980 年改名为国际北方公司 International North，曾一度遭受 John Irwin 创建的Brookside 公司的敌意并购)被规模不到它一半的休斯敦天然气所并购(Houston Natural Gas)，该公司当时曾宣布将让总部继续设在奥马哈，并让原 CEO 继续留任。

Within a year, those promises were broken. By then, the former CEO of Houston Natural had taken over the top job at InterNorth, the company had been renamed, and the headquarters had been moved to Houston. These switches were orchestrated by the new CEO – Ken Lay – and the name he chose was Enron.

只是不满一年，这些承诺就被打破，休斯敦天然气的原任总裁接掌总裁职位，总部也搬到休斯敦，更有甚者，连公司名称都被后来新继任的总裁肯尼斯·雷(KenLay)改名为安然公司(Enron)。

Fast forward 15 years to late 2001. Enron ran into the troubles we’ve heard so much about and borrowed money from Dynegy, putting up the Northern Natural pipeline operation as collateral. The two companies quickly had a falling out, and the pipeline’s ownership moved to Dynegy. That company, in turn, soon encountered severe financial problems of its own.

时光飞逝，话说到了 15 年之后的 2001 年，安然公司营运发生重大困难，被迫向另一家能源公司 Dynegy 能源公司借钱 15 亿美元，并以北方天然管道这条管线作为质押担保品，结果不久之后，因无法还款这条管线的所有权就移转到 Dynegy 公司的名下，只是没想到 Dynegy 公司过不了多久也发生严重的财务问题。

MEHC received a call on Friday, July 26, from Dynegy, which was looking for a quick and certain cash sale of the pipeline. Dynegy phoned the right party: On July 29, we signed a contract, and shortly thereafter Northern Natural returned home.

中美能源在 7/26 周五接到 Dynegy 公司打来的电话，对方希望将这条管线立即变现以取得现金，我想他们算是找对人了，紧接着在 7 月 29 日，我们就签订了一项合约(9.28 亿现金+承担 9.5 亿债务)，就这样北方天然公司终于回到家乡的怀抱。

When 2001 began, Charlie and I had no idea that Berkshire would be moving into the pipeline business. But upon completion of the Kern River expansion, MEHC will transport about 8% of all gas used in the U.S. We continue to look for large energy-related assets, though in the electric utility field PUHCA constrains what we can do.

早在 2001 年初，查理跟我压根就没想到，我们会介入能源管道业务的经营，不过在完成肯特河管线扩充案之后，中美能源所运送的天然气，将占全美使用量的 8%，而在这之后，我们仍将继续寻求大型的能源事业投资案，虽然在能源产业，PUHCA 依然对我们还有诸多限制。

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A few years ago, and somewhat by accident, MEHC found itself in the residential real estate brokerage business. It is no accident, however, that we have dramatically expanded the operation. Moreover, we are likely to keep on expanding in the future.

几年前，中美能源在无意中，发现自己介入不动产中介业的经营，只是后来我们大幅扩张这方面的业务却绝非意外，更有甚者，我们有意在未来继续拓展营运规模。

We call this business HomeServices of America. In the various communities it serves, though, it operates under the names of the businesses it has acquired, such as CBS in Omaha, Edina Realty in Minneapolis and Iowa Realty in Des Moines. In most metropolitan areas in which we operate, we are the clear market leader.

我们将之称呼为美国家庭服务公司 HomeServices，虽然依照地区的不同，我们以取得当地据点时的原名称对外经营，比如说奥马哈的 CBS 不动产、明尼拿波里市的Edina 不动产、DesMoines 的 Iowa 不动产等，在多数我们有营运的大都会中，我们都是市场的领导者。

HomeServices is now the second largest residential brokerage business in the country. On one side or the other (or both), we participated in $37 billion of transactions last year, up 100% from 2001.

HomeServices 现在是全美第二大的住宅不动产中介商，我们去年参与了总值 370 亿美元的不动产交易案(包含单边或双边)，较 2001 年增加了一倍。

Most of our growth came from three acquisitions we made during 2002, the largest of which was Prudential California Realty. Last year, this company, the leading realtor in a territory consisting of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties, participated in $16 billion of closings.

大部分的成长动力来自于我们在 2002 年进行的三项并购案，其中最大的一件是保德信加州不动产(PrudentialCaliforniaRealty)，该公司是 LosAngeles、Orange 及 SanDiego 等地区最大的经营者，去年促成的不动产成交总额高达 160 亿美元。

In a very short period, Ron Peltier, the company’s CEO, has increased HomeServices’ revenues – and profits – dramatically. Though this business will always be cyclical, it’s one we like and in which we continue to have an appetite for sensible acquisitions.

该公司的 CEO 罗恩·佩提耶(RonPeltier)在相当短的时间之内，就让 HomeServices 公司的营收及获利大幅成长，虽然这个行业的周期波动性相当的大，但是我们仍然想要继续进行并购扩张。

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Dave Sokol, MEHC’s CEO, and Greg Abel, his key associate, are huge assets for Berkshire. They are dealmakers, and they are managers. Berkshire stands ready to inject massive amounts of money into MEHC – and it will be fun to watch how far Dave and Greg can take the business.

中美能源的 CEO 大卫·索科尔(Dave Sokol)及其搭档格雷格·阿贝尔(Greg Abel)，现在已成为伯克希尔珍贵的资产，他们是梦想创造者，更是优秀的经理人，伯克希尔已准备好要投入大量资金到中美能源，相当期待 Dave与 Greg 会如何运用这些资金开疆辟土。