巴菲特致股东的信（2003年）③并购活动

Acquisitions

并购活动

As regular readers know, our acquisitions have often come about in strange ways. None, however, had a more unusual genesis than our purchase last year of Clayton Homes.

熟悉的读者都知道，我们的并购案的来源通常都很特殊，但再也没有比去年买进克莱顿房屋(Clayton Homes)更特别的了。

The unlikely source was a group of finance students from the University of Tennessee, and their teacher, Dr. Al Auxier. For the past five years, Al has brought his class to Omaha, where the group tours Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheim’s, eats at Gorat’s and then comes to Kiewit Plaza for a session with me. Usually about 40 students participate.

这件并购案的来源，出自于田纳西大学一群金融系的学生以及老师 AlAuxier 博士，过去五年来，Al每年都会带他的学生到奥马哈，参观内布拉斯加家具店及波仙珠宝店、到 Gorats 牛排馆吃牛排，之后再到 Kiewit大楼与我一叙，通常学生人数在 40 位左右。

After two hours of give-and-take, the group traditionally presents me with a thank-you gift. (The doors stay locked until they do.) In past years it’s been items such as a football signed by Phil Fulmer and a basketball from Tennessee’s famous women’s team.

在经过 2 个小时的交流之后，参访团照例都会赠送一份纪念品给我，(礼物不来，门是不会开的)，往年的礼物有，PhilFulmer 亲自签名的足球，田纳西州著名女子篮球队的篮球。

This past February, the group opted for a book – which, luckily for me, was the recently-published autobiography of Jim Clayton, founder of Clayton Homes. I already knew the company to be the class act of the manufactured housing industry, knowledge I acquired after earlier making the mistake of buying some distressed junk debt of Oakwood Homes, one of the industry’s largest companies. At the time of that purchase, I did not understand how atrocious consumer-financing practices had become throughout most of the manufactured housing industry. But I learned: Oakwood rather promptly went bankrupt.

不过今年二月，参访团却选择赠送给我一本书，那是克莱顿房屋创办人 JimClayton 刚出版的自传《First A Dream》，我很久以前就知道该公司是预制房屋建筑业的金字招牌，这源于过去我投资另一家同业 OakwoodHomes 垃圾债券的惨痛教训，Oakwood 也是这个行业里数一数二的大公司，在我买进的时候，我本来不清楚这行业的消费贷款竞争情况是如此的惨烈，不过不用多久我就晓得了：Oakwood 很快就破产了。

Manufactured housing, it should be emphasized, can deliver very good value to home purchasers. Indeed, for decades, the industry has accounted for more than 15% of the homes built in the U.S. During those years, moreover, both the quality and variety of manufactured houses consistently improved.

但是有一点必须强调的是，预制房屋业对于购屋者来说，绝对是一大福音，事实上过去数十年来，这行业提供的房屋约占全美建造房屋的 15%，更重要的是，所建造房屋的品质与类型一直不断在提升当中。

Progress in design and construction was not matched, however, by progress in distribution and financing. Instead, as the years went by, the industry’s business model increasingly centered on the ability of both the retailer and manufacturer to unload terrible loans on naive lenders. When “securitization” then became popular in the 1990s, further distancing the supplier of funds from the lending transaction, the industry’s conduct went from bad to worse. Much of its volume a few years back came from buyers who shouldn’t have bought, financed by lenders who shouldn’t have lent. The consequence has been huge numbers of repossessions and pitifully low recoveries on the units repossessed.

然而设计与建造技术的改良，却远不及营销与融资方式的演进，到最后这几年，这行经营的诀窍逐渐变质成如何将零售商与制造商背负的不良贷款转嫁到不知情的金主身上，当资产证券化开始在 1990 年代盛行时，进一步使得资金供应方无法提供贷款交易，业者的行径也越加脱轨，导致几年来许多不该买房子的人进场买房子，不该借钱给人的人借钱给人，最后的结果是大量的房屋产权被收回，即便顺利收回也损失不菲。

Oakwood participated fully in the insanity. But Clayton, though it could not isolate itself from industry practices, behaved considerably better than its major competitors.

Oakwood 从头到尾都参与了这场闹剧，反观克莱顿虽然无法完全撇清，但情况比起其它主要竞争对手来说，要轻微许多。

Upon receiving Jim Clayton’s book, I told the students how much I admired his record and they took that message back to Knoxville, home of both the University of Tennessee and Clayton Homes. Al then suggested that I call Kevin Clayton, Jim’s son and the CEO, to express my views directly. As I talked with Kevin, it became clear that he was both able and a straight-shooter.

在收到 Jim Clayton 的自传后，我向在场的学生们表示个人相当崇拜他的事迹，于是他们将这项讯息带回家乡Knoxville，那也是田纳西大学与克莱顿房屋的所在地，随后 Al 更建议我打通电话给 Jim Clayton 的儿子 Kevin，也是现任 CEO，直接表达我个人的看法，在我跟 Kevin 一聊之后，马上就了解他是一个能干且直率的人。

Soon thereafter, I made an offer for the business based solely on Jim’s book, my evaluation of Kevin, the public financials of Clayton and what I had learned from the Oakwood experience. Clayton’s board was receptive, since it understood that the large-scale financing Clayton would need in the future might be hard to get. Lenders had fled the industry and securitizations, when possible at all, carried far more expensive and restrictive terms than was previously the case. This tightening was particularly serious for Clayton, whose earnings significantly depended on securitizations.

不久之后，我便出价打算买下这家公司(2003 年 4 月 1 日，伯克希尔以每股 12.5 总价 17 亿美元现金收购)，其判断依据仅仅基于 Jim 的自传、我个人对于 Kevin 的评价、克莱顿房屋公开的财务信息以及个人从投资Oakwood 所得的经验，克莱顿董事会采取接受的态度，因为他们深知未来很难再为克莱顿找到所需如此大规模的融资来源，金主大举逃离这个产业和相关证券，至于资产证券化则尽可能的带有比以往更高昂的成本与更严格的条款，这种融资紧缩，在收入严重依赖资产证券化的克莱顿身上尤其明显。

Today, the manufactured housing industry remains awash in problems. Delinquencies continue high, repossessed units still abound and the number of retailers has been halved. A different business model is required, one that eliminates the ability of the retailer and salesman to pocket substantial money up front by making sales financed by loans that are destined to default. Such transactions cause hardship to both buyer and lender and lead to a flood of repossessions that then undercut the sale of new units. Under a proper model – one requiring significant down payments and shorter-term loans – the industry will likely remain much smaller than it was in the 90s. But it will deliver to home buyers an asset in which they will have equity, rather than disappointment, upon resale.

直到现在，预制房屋建筑业乃未摆脱问题的沉岢，逾期率依旧高企、被收回的房屋仍然很多，而中介零售商数量已经减半，实在有必要发展出一套全新的经营模式，一套可以防止中介商及业务员利用注定会违约的贷款进行销售，从而提前赚取大笔佣金的有效方法，这类的交易使得买方与借贷方双双陷入困境，并导致大量房屋的收回，更将导致新房屋去化不易。在这套合理的模式下，买方将必须支付大笔首付金，并签订短期借款合约，虽然此举将导致整个产业的规模远较 90 年代大幅萎缩，但此举将让购屋者在日后出售房屋时，真正靠此资产受益，而不是一连串的懊悔。

In the “full circle” department, Clayton has agreed to buy the assets of Oakwood. When the transaction closes, Clayton’s manufacturing capacity, geographical reach and sales outlets will be substantially increased. As a byproduct, the debt of Oakwood that we own, which we bought at a deep discount, will probably return a small profit to us.

为了使得交易更加圆满，Clayton 已经同意买下 Oakwood 的资产(11 月 25 日宣布以 3.73 亿现金收购)，在这项交易完成之后，Clayton 预制房屋的产能、经营区域以及销售渠道将大幅增长，另外附带的是，我们当初以大幅折价买进的 Oakwood 垃圾债券，现在不但债权收回有望，甚至还能小赚一笔。

And the students? In October, we had a surprise “graduation” ceremony in Knoxville for the 40 who sparked my interest in Clayton. I donned a mortarboard and presented each student with both a PhD (for phenomenal, hard-working dealmaker) from Berkshire and a B share. Al got an A share. If you meet some of the new Tennessee shareholders at our annual meeting, give them your thanks. And ask them if they’ve read any good books lately.

至于那 40 位有功的学生，我们十月在 Knoxville 举办了一次特别的毕业典礼，我身着学士帽，亲自颁发每位学生一张伯克希尔 PhD(专门用以表彰对于伯克希尔并购有功人员)外加每人一股伯克希尔 B 股，至于 Al 教授则获赠一股 A 股，所以如果各位在今年的股东大会上遇到来自田纳西州的新股东，请向他们表示感谢，并记得顺便问问他们最近读了什么新书。

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In early spring, Byron Trott, a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, told me that Wal-Mart wished to sell its McLane subsidiary. McLane distributes groceries and nonfood items to convenience stores, drug stores, wholesale clubs, mass merchandisers, quick service restaurants, theaters and others. It’s a good business, but one not in the mainstream of Wal-Mart’s future. It’s made to order, however, for us.

今年初春，高盛证券一位董事总经理 ByronTrott 告诉我，沃尔玛有意出售其子公司麦克莱恩(McLane)，该公司专门为便利店、药妆店、批发店、快餐店、电影院等渠道，提供配送食品杂货以及非食品等物流服务，这是一家好公司，可惜却不是沃尔玛未来发展的核心事业，然而对我们来说，她却有如量身订做。

McLane has sales of about $23 billion, but operates on paper-thin margins – about 1% pre-tax – and will swell Berkshire’s sales figures far more than our income. In the past, some retailers had shunned McLane because it was owned by their major competitor. Grady Rosier, McLane’s superb CEO, has already landed some of these accounts – he was in full stride the day the deal closed – and more will come.

McLane 的年营业额高达 230 亿美元，但利润却相当微薄，税前利润率约当 1%，所以其对伯克希尔营收数字的影响将远大于收益的贡献，在过去，某些渠道商碍于 McLane 为主要对手的子公司而放弃她的服务，然而在该公司杰出经理人 GradyRosier 的带领下，已经成功拿下部分市场，即便交易完成当天，他依然全力以赴。

For several years, I have given my vote to Wal-Mart in the balloting for Fortune Magazine’s “Most Admired” list. Our McLane transaction reinforced my opinion. To make the McLane deal, I had a single meeting of about two hours with Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart’s CFO, and we then shook hands. (He did, however, first call Bentonville). Twenty-nine days later Wal-Mart had its money. We did no “due diligence.” We knew everything would be exactly as Wal-Mart said it would be – and it was.

多年来，个人一直将财富杂志每年固定举办的年度最受尊敬企业奖投给沃尔玛，在 McLane 的交易完成后，更加加深我的看法，在交易过程中，我只跟沃尔玛的 CFO-TomSchoewe 有过一次二小时的单独会面，之后双方就握手达成共识，(当然他也打电话回 Bentonville 总部做了请示)，29 天之后，沃尔玛就拿到钱(14.5 亿美元)，我们没有执行任何实地查核程序，我们确信所有情况都会像沃尔玛所说的那样，事后证明确实如此。

I should add that Byron has now been instrumental in three Berkshire acquisitions. He understands Berkshire far better than any investment banker with whom we have talked and – it hurts me to say this – earns his fee. I’m looking forward to deal number four (as, I am sure, is he).

有一点我要特别强调，截至目前为止，Byron 已累计助力伯克希尔三件并购案，他比过去任何一位与我们有过接触的投资银行家都了解伯克希尔，而且我也不得不承认，他已赚了我们不少顾问费，不过我还是深深期待第四件案子发生，而我相信他也期待！