巴菲特致股东的信（2007年）③收购

Acquisitions

收购

Though our managers may be the best, we will need large and sensible acquisitions to get the growth in operating earnings we wish. Here, we made little progress in 2007 until very late in the year. Then, on Christmas day, Charlie and I finally earned our paychecks by contracting for the largest cash purchase in Berkshire’s history.

尽管我们的管理层是最棒的，我们仍需要进行明智的大型收购，以实现我们期望的经营收益增长。这方面我们直到 2007 年底才取得了一点进展。那是在圣诞节，查理和我签约了在伯克希尔公司历史上最大的现金收购，最终为我们自己挣到了当年的薪水。

The seeds of this transaction were planted in 1954. That fall, only three months into a new job, I was sent by my employers, Ben Graham and Jerry Newman, to a shareholders’ meeting of Rockwood Chocolate in Brooklyn. A young fellow had recently taken control of this company, a manufacturer of assorted cocoa-based items. He had then initiated a one-of-a-kind tender, offering 80 pounds of cocoa beans for each share of Rockwood stock. I described this transaction in a section of the 1988 annual report that explained arbitrage. I also told you that Jay Pritzker – the young fellow mentioned above – was the business genius behind this tax-efficient idea, the possibilities for which had escaped all the other experts who had thought about buying Rockwood, including my bosses, Ben and Jerry.

这次交易的种子早在 1954 年就播下了，那年夏天，刚得到新工作才三个月的我，被我的老板本·格雷厄姆和杰瑞·纽曼派去参加 Rockwood 巧克力公司在布鲁克林召开的股东大会。一个年轻人刚控制了这家生产可可产品的公司。他当时发明了一种绝无仅有的"代币"，为每股 Rockwood 公司的股票出价 80 磅可可豆。我在 1988 年给股东的信中描述过这次交易，也解释了其中的套利机会。我要告诉你们 JayPritzker，就是上面提到的那个小伙子，一个利用避税主意的商业天才。这种可行的办法逃过了其他想买 Rockwood 股票专家们的眼睛，包括我的老板本杰明和杰瑞。

At the meeting, Jay was friendly and gave me an education on the 1954 tax code. I came away very impressed. Thereafter, I avidly followed Jay’s business dealings, which were many and brilliant. His valued partner was his brother, Bob, who for nearly 50 years ran Marmon Group, the home for most of the Pritzker businesses.

在那次股东大会上，Jay 友善地教了我很多关于 1954 年免税的知识，让我在离开时对他印象深刻。此后，我热切地跟踪着 Jay 那些繁多但出色的生意。Jay 最有价值的合伙人是他的兄弟 Bob，他经营玛蒙集团(Marmon)近 50 年了，这是 Pritzker 家族许多公司的母公司。

Jay died in 1999, and Bob retired early in 2002. Around then, the Pritzker family decided to gradually sell or reorganize certain of its holdings, including Marmon, a company operating 125 businesses, managed through nine sectors. Marmon’s largest operation is Union Tank Car, which together with a Canadian counterpart owns 94,000 rail cars that are leased to various shippers. The original cost of this fleet is $5.1 billion. All told, Marmon has $7 billion in sales and about 20,000 employees.

在 Jay 1999 年去世后，Bob 在 2002 年初也退休了。Pritzker 家族决定逐步卖掉或重组他们的公司，其中包括 Marmon 集团。Marmon 通过它的 9 个部门运营着 125 项生意，其中最大的一个是联合槽罐车公司(UnionTank Car)，加上它的加拿大分公司，联合槽罐车公司共拥有 9.4 万辆铁路槽罐车，被分租给不同的托运人。这只车队的原始成本是 51 亿美元，总而言之，Marmon 集团拥有 70 亿美元销售额和大约 2 万名员工。

We will soon purchase 60% of Marmon and will acquire virtually all of the balance within six years. Our initial outlay will be $4.5 billion, and the price of our later purchases will be based on a formula tied to earnings. Prior to our entry into the picture, the Pritzker family received substantial consideration from Marmon’s distribution of cash, investments and certain businesses.

我们不久将收购 Marmon 集团 60%的股份，并将在 6 年内买下其余股份。我们的初始支出是 45 亿美元，我们以后的购买价格将基于一个与收益挂钩的公式。在我们涉足其中之前，Pritzker 家族从 Marmon 集团的现金分配、投资以及坚实的业务中获得了可观的收益。

This deal was done in the way Jay would have liked. We arrived at a price using only Marmon’s financial statements, employing no advisors and engaging in no nit-picking. I knew that the business would be exactly as the Pritzkers represented, and they knew that we would close on the dot, however chaotic financial markets might be. During the past year, many large deals have been renegotiated or killed entirely. With the Pritzkers, as with Berkshire, a deal is a deal.

这项交易，也是按 Jay 喜欢的方式进行的。我们仅凭 Marmon 集团的财务报表就给出报价，没有聘请顾问，也没有进行细致的审计。我知道公司会和 Pritzker 家族描述的情况一样，同样他们也知道，不论混乱的金融市场情况如何，我们都会说到做到。在过去的一年里，许多大型交易被要求重新谈判或干脆取消，但这个交易，对Pritzker 家族来说，像对伯克希尔一样，一言为定。

Marmon’s CEO, Frank Ptak, works closely with a long-time associate, John Nichols. John was formerly the highly successful CEO of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), where he teamed with Frank to run a mix of industrial businesses. Take a look at their ITW record; you’ll be impressed.

Marmon 集团的 CEO：Frank Ptak，他有一个长期搭档 John Nichols。John 从前是伊利诺伊机械公司优秀的 CEO (Illinois Tool Works Inc. NYSE：ITW，一家全球性的工业产品和设备制造商，业务包括：汽车原始设备，食品设备，测试和测量及电子产品，焊接设备，聚合物和流体，建筑产品等。www.itw.com)，在 ITW 他和Frank 合作管理一个多元化的工业集团。看一眼他们在 ITW 的记录，你会留下深刻印象。

Byron Trott of Goldman Sachs – whose praises I sang in the 2003 report – facilitated the Marmon transaction. Byron is the rare investment banker who puts himself in his client’s shoes. Charlie and I trust him completely.

高盛公司的 Byron Trott(我在 2003 年股东的信中曾对其大加赞扬)，促成了收购 Marmon 集团。Byron 是那种很罕见的，能设身处地为客户着想的投资银行家，查理和我百分百地信任他。

You’ll like the code name that Goldman Sachs assigned the deal. Marmon entered the auto business in 1902 and exited it in 1933. Along the way it manufactured the Wasp, a car that won the first Indianapolis 500 race, held in 1911. So this deal was labeled “Indy 500.”

你们也会喜欢高盛公司为这个交易起的代号。因 Marmon 集团在 1902 年-1933 年曾涉足汽车业，他们制造的 Wasp 汽车，赢得了在 1911 年首次举办的印地安纳波利斯 500 汽车赛，所以这笔交易被称为"印地 500"。

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In May 2006, I spoke at a lunch at Ben Bridge, our Seattle-based jewelry chain. The audience was a number of its vendors, among them Dennis Ulrich, owner of a company that manufactured gold jewelry.

2006 年 5 月，当我在西雅图 BenBridge 珠宝连锁店举办的午餐会上发言时，下面的听众是它的一些供应商，其中包括 DennisUlrich，他是一家金饰品制作公司的老板。

In January 2007, Dennis called me, suggesting that with Berkshire’s support he could build a large jewelry supplier. We soon made a deal for his business, simultaneously purchasing a supplier of about equal size. The new company, Richline Group, has since made two smaller acquisitions. Even with those, Richline is far below the earnings threshold we normally require for purchases. I’m willing to bet, however, that Dennis – with the help of his partner, Dave Meleski – will build a large operation, earning good returns on capital employed.

2007 年 1 月，Dennis 打电话给我，建议说如果能得到伯克希尔的支持，他可以缔造出一个珠宝制造业巨人。不久我们与他达成了交易，同时又收购了另一家与他规模相当的公司(Bel-Oro International 和 Aurafin LLC)，组成 Richline 集团公司。新公司后来又做了两笔较小的收购。但即便如此，Richline 公司的收益水平也远低于我们通常要求的收购门槛。不过我打赌，Dennis 在他的搭档 DaveMeleski 的辅助下，将会建立起一个大型企业，并从投入的资本中赚取可观的回报。