巴菲特致股东的信（1985年）⑨收购斯科特·费泽

Acquisition of Scott & Fetzer

Right after yearend we acquired The Scott & Fetzer Company (“Scott Fetzer”) of Cleveland for about $320 million. (In addition, about $90 million of pre-existing Scott Fetzer debt remains in place.) In the next section of this report I describe the sort of businesses that we wish to buy for Berkshire. Scott Fetzer is a prototype - understandable, large, well-managed, a good earner.

收购斯科特·费泽(Scott & Fetzer)

年后，我们还斥资 3.2 亿美元并购了位于克利夫兰(Cleveland)的 Scott Fetzer，其中约 0.9 亿美元预先存在的债务仍然存在(2.3 亿+0.9 亿债务)。下一个段落我将会说明伯克希尔并购公司的一些标准，Scott Fetzer 就是个典型的例子：容易懂、规模大、管理佳、赚钱多。

The company has sales of about $700 million derived from 17 businesses, many leaders in their fields. Return on invested capital is good to excellent for most of these businesses. Some well-known products are Kirby home-care systems, Campbell Hausfeld air compressors, and Wayne burners and water pumps.

该公司拥有 17 家企业，年销售额约 7 亿美金，很多都是各自领域的领导者，大多数投资回报率都相当高，拥有许多知名品牌，如柯比吸尘器(Kirby)、坎贝尔空压机(Campbell Hausfeld)、韦恩瓦斯炉(Wayne)等。

World Book, Inc. - accounting for about 40% of Scott Fetzer’s sales and a bit more of its income - is by far the company’s largest operation. It also is by far the leader in its industry, selling more than twice as many encyclopedia sets annually as its nearest competitor. In fact, it sells more sets in the U.S. than its four biggest competitors combined.

世界图书(World Book)约占该公司销售额的 40%，收益占比略高一些，是该公司最大的业务，它还是其行业的领导者，每年销售量百科全书数量超过其它四家同业的总和。(Kirby 于 2021 年 7 月出售给 Right Lane Industries 公司)

Charlie and I have a particular interest in the World Book operation because we regard its encyclopedia as something special. I’ve been a fan (and user) for 25 years, and now have grandchildren consulting the sets just as my children did. World Book is regularly rated the most useful encyclopedia by teachers, librarians and consumer buying guides. Yet it sells for less than any of its major competitors. Childcraft, another World Book, Inc. product, offers similar value. This combination of exceptional products and modest prices at World Book, Inc. helped make us willing to pay the price demanded for Scott Fetzer, despite declining results for many companies in the direct-selling industry.

我和查理对世界百科全书的运作特别感兴趣，事实上我成为粉丝已有 25 年的历史，现在连我孙子辈都迷上了它，它被所有的老师、图书馆与读者评选为最有用的百科全书，然而它的售价却低于任何主要竞争对手，旗下另一款产品《儿童手工》Childcraft 也提供类似的价值。这种物美价廉产品使得我们愿意以该公司提出的价格进行并购，尽管直销行业的许多公司业绩都在下滑。

An equal attraction at Scott Fetzer is Ralph Schey, its CEO for nine years. When Ralph took charge, the company had 31 businesses, the result of an acquisition spree in the 1960s. He disposed of many that did not fit or had limited profit potential, but his focus on rationalizing the original potpourri was not so intense that he passed by World Book when it became available for purchase in 1978. Ralph’s operating and capital-allocation record is superb, and we are delighted to be associated with him.

在 Scott Fetzer 同样吸引人的是担任了 9 年 CEO 的拉尔夫·谢伊(Ralph Schey)，当他上任时，该公司共有多达 31 项业务，这是公司在 1960 年代杠杆并购狂潮的结果。他大刀阔斧将不合适或不赚钱的业务处置掉，他对复兴这些业务没有任何兴趣，但 1978 年世界图书公司出售时买下了它。他在经营和资本分配上的功力相当杰出，我们很高兴能与他一起共事。

The history of the Scott Fetzer acquisition is interesting, marked by some zigs and zags before we became involved. The company had been an announced candidate for purchase since early 1984. A major investment banking firm spent many months canvassing scores of prospects, evoking interest from several. Finally, in mid-1985 a plan of sale, featuring heavy participation by an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), was approved by shareholders. However, as difficulty in closing followed, the plan was scuttled.

事实上并购的过程相当有趣，在我们介入之前还有段小插曲，1984 年初便传出该公司有意要出售，一家投资银行顾问花了好几个月向数十家潜在客户游说，也确实引起了几家公司的兴趣，最后在 1985 年中，股东大会批准一项员工持股计划参与的出售案，然而到了最后节骨眼该计划却被否决了。

I had followed this corporate odyssey through the newspapers. On October 10, well after the ESOP deal had fallen through, I wrote a short letter to Ralph, whom I did not know. I said we admired the company’s record and asked if he might like to talk. Charlie and I met Ralph for dinner in Chicago on October 22 and signed an acquisition contract the following week.

我在报上看到这一公司的冒险历程，10 月 10 日，在员工持股计划(ESOP)交易失败后不久，立刻写了一封简短的信给还不认识的 Ralph Schey，我说我们很欣赏公司过去的表现，不知道他有没有兴趣与我们谈一谈，10 月 22 日查理和我在芝加哥与 Ralph 碰面共进晚餐，并在隔周正式签定并购合约。

The Scott Fetzer acquisition, plus major growth in our insurance business, should push revenues above $2 billion in 1986, more than double those of 1985.

收购 Scott Fetzer，加上我们保险业务的大幅增长，1986 年的收入将超过 20 亿美元，是 1985 年的两倍多。