Next Berkshire acquisition speculation

[gfp]

4 hours ago, gfp said:

Who had "Bell Laboratories" on their bingo card as the next Berkshire Hathaway acquisition?  Come forward and claim your prize

 

https://www.pctonline.com/news/bell-laboratories-acquired-berkshire-hathaway/

 

Here is a press release from 2013 detailing the sale of Bell Laboratories' consumer product "Tomcat" to Scotts Miracle-Gro

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scottsmiracle-gro-expands-controls-category-with-purchase-of-tomcat-consumer-business-227651131.html

 

"In addition to research and development, Bell Laboratories, Inc. will continue to perform regulatory and manufacturing functions for the Tomcat brand."

Edited August 11, 2025 by gfp

[Eldad]

Buffett isn’t paying 23+x for that piece of junk CSX. That’s ridiculous.  
 

He payed 15x for BNSF and it is a way better railroad. And he says it has just been an “OK” investment. 
 

If Greg starts talking synergies, I’m out for good. 

[MadeItSquare]

3 hours ago, Pauly said:

 

Did anyone else think this was the famous Bell Labs that invented the transistor, and not the...rodent control company? What a confusingly named business. 

Yep. My pulse quickened for a moment xD.

[gfp]

I don't know about you all, but I went straight to my big yellow bucket of rodent poison, called Havoc, and was disappointed to learn that the poison I have been using is from their competitor Neogen.  An interesting company with a lot of niche products.  A tiny part of the company is rodent poison...  Basically Warfarin for mice

 

https://www.neogen.com/en/categories/rodent-control/

[villainx]

6 hours ago, gfp said:

To be clear, if your guess was Nokia-owned Bell Labs and not the rodent control company you do not get a prize.

 

If life was a TV show, this is like a throwback to Berkshire's earlier type of investment.

 

 

[villainx]

6 hours ago, gfp said:

To be clear, if your guess was Nokia-owned Bell Labs and not the rodent control company you do not get a prize.

 

If life was a TV show, this is like a callback to Berkshire's earlier type of investment?

 

 

[yesman182]

On 8/11/2025 at 12:37 PM, gfp said:

 

I am sure it is not large enough to require a form 8K.

 

I'm encouraged that Warren made it out to Wisconsin (with Howie and Greg) for the announcement.  Just like the old days, give the old man the thrill of buying a private family owned company one more time!  Let him sign the check Greg!

I wish we had more of the story. It seems very odd for Warren to fly with Greg and Howard to some little office in Wisconsin, to buy a company that is no doubt worth a lot to the sellers, but not material for Berkshire. The ladies selling the business must have got his blood flowing. It feels to me like Warren and the sellers must have a prior relationship? 

[Hektor]

11 hours ago, yesman182 said:

I wish we had more of the story. It seems very odd for Warren to fly with Greg and Howard to some little office in Wisconsin, to buy a company that is no doubt worth a lot to the sellers, but not material for Berkshire. The ladies selling the business must have got his blood flowing. It feels to me like Warren and the sellers must have a prior relationship? 

They probably have a block of A shares that WEB is interested in 

[ratiman]

Literally nobody is going to agree with this, but BRK should acquire the remaining shares of KHC and create a platform to acquire more food brands and create a rival to Nestle and Unilever and Mars. Buffett has owned CPG companies throughout his career but almost always in passive ownership. Because CPG is so stable it is much better suited to BRK's portfolio than industrial or railroad companies. Because it would be a platform, it would increase the value of acquired companies, and KHC still has many of the executives who were brought on by 3G.

[LC]

2 hours ago, ratiman said:

Literally nobody is going to agree with this

 

Well you've got that right

 

My two cents:

 

Berkshire has little/no practical experience executing this type of business. It's why they always hire partners to do so. That's been WB's m.o. from the very beginning, even in his partnership days.

 

Not to mention the power of brands has seriously eroded in the recent history. I think WB has picked up on that given his investments in the space. Not a business he'd want to get into and compete in himself.

 

[Spekulatius]

On 8/11/2025 at 1:25 AM, longterminvestor said:

There is a large probability Mr. Buffett and other managers at BNSF have looked at the below map for many years, long before recent news broke on other competitors consolidating. 

 

I am no Rail Road expert, the below looks sexy however I choose to trust management - mostly because between me and Mr. Buffett, we control roughly 30% voting rights of Berkshire .  

 

It’s probably correct that Berkshire will do nothing. I do want to point out that looking at the map and being able to do something are two different things. So far further consolation of RR was deemed not feasible due to antitrust but that seems to have changed now.

[Eldad]

Buffett confirms no bid for CSX. Efficient market is somehow surprised by this sending CSX down 11%. 

[Munger_Disciple]

43 minutes ago, Eldad said:

Buffett confirms no bid for CSX. Efficient market is somehow surprised by this sending CSX down 11%. 

 

It makes no sense for Warren & Greg to do this deal now. They can take their time & see what happens to the UNP deal and see if the govt lets that deal go thru' or not. If it goes thru' CSX will have no alternative suitor other than BNSF, so Warren & Greg won't have to overpay if they then acquire CSX. If it doesn't, nothing changes in the competitive landscape for BNSF so they don't have to do anything. 

[Mephistopheles]

Would CP or CN be formidable bidders?

[bizaro86]

21 hours ago, Mephistopheles said:

Would CP or CN be formidable bidders?

 

CP also declined to bid yesterday, which I think was a factor in the CSX decline.

[Spekulatius]

On 8/26/2025 at 1:38 PM, Mephistopheles said:

Would CP or CN be formidable bidders?

I doubt Canadian companies  could do a deal in the current political climate.

[DooDiligence]

What are the odds of UP+NS happening?

 

https://www.feedstuffs.com/agribusiness-news/union-pacific-norfolk-southern-merger-chugs-along-into-next-phase

 

https://www.bnsf.com/news-media/news-releases/newsrelease.page?relId=bnsf-files-petition-requesting-stb-to-enforce-review-union-pacific-southern-pacific-merger-conditions-from-three-decades-ago