Berkshire buys Oriental Trading Company

[racemize]

looks to only be 500 million:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/02/orientaltradingco-berkshirehathaway-idUSL3E8M25OK20121102?feedType=RSS&feedName=bankruptcyNews&rpc=43

[DCG]

looks to only be 500 million:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/02/orientaltradingco-berkshirehathaway-idUSL3E8M25OK20121102?feedType=RSS&feedName=bankruptcyNews&rpc=43

 

hmm..not exactly sure why he'd want this company.

[Grenville]

They are HQ in Omaha.

 

http://www.orientaltrading.com/h3-aboutus.fltr

[Parsad]

looks to only be 500 million:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/02/orientaltradingco-berkshirehathaway-idUSL3E8M25OK20121102?feedType=RSS&feedName=bankruptcyNews&rpc=43

 

hmm..not exactly sure why he'd want this company.

 

I'm sure Buffett and his family have been buying stuff from there for a long time and they know the history of the business.  No way of knowing unless we could see some financials.  Cheers!

[Palantir]

Yeah...but what's the point of buying these tiny firms? It's not going to make a material difference to Berk's position.

[Parsad]

Yeah...but what's the point of buying these tiny firms? It's not going to make a material difference to Berk's position.

 

If you can't find a $20B idea, sometimes you just have to go with forty $500M ideas!  ;D  Cheers!

[LC]

Yeah...but what's the point of buying these tiny firms? It's not going to make a material difference to Berk's position.

every cent counts...

[alwaysinvert]

I don't think it detracts attention from the bigger deals he might be able to do maybe once a year.

 

I found a good idea this year but it was an extremely illiquid one, so I have only been able to commit just below 1% of my capital in about 6 months of buying, but it was fun researching and putting out buying orders is not really a time consumer.

 

If it keeps Buffett happy and excited while also earning a good return it's a win-win.

[valuebull]

The 12/5/2009 Wall Street Journal had a fascinating article about the Oriental Trading Company founder’s son, Terry Watanabe.  Terry Watanabe worked very hard to run the company from 1977 until 2000.  By 2000, the revenue was $300 million and he sold the company to Brentwood Associates of Los Angeles. 

 

After the sale of the company he took up gambling in a big way, losing nearly $127 million in 2007 alone.  He was known to lose up to $5 million a day, and “gravitated toward games with low odds, including roulette and slots”.  The Las Vegas casinos lavished him with all kinds of perks.

 

Harrah’s demanded the $14.7 million he still owed them, and his defense was that the casino was responsible for the loss since they plied him with alcohol, etc. 

In July 2010, shortly before the case was to go to trial, a confidential settlement was reached between Harrah's and Terry Watanabe. 

 

[Grenville]

more details:

 

Dealbook article with some additional details regarding previous owners and selling owner KKR

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/berkshire-to-buy-oriental-trading-company/

 

Official press release

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121102005098/en/Berkshire-Hathaway-Acquire-Oriental-Trading-Company

[valuebull]

This five minute medley of promotional pieces featuring the CEO of Oriental Trading Company Sam Taylor, along with Kristi Yamaguchi and her figure skating friends, gives you insight on Oriental Trading's products and business model...