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Warren Buffett / Getty
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/ By Ilan Shavit /
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according to Bloomberg Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) agreed to pay $2.05 billion for the 20 percent on ISCAR (IMC Metalworking Companies) , Israeli manufacturer of cutting gear for industries including aerospace and auto manufacturing.
Warren Buffett, 82 , bought 80 percent of Iscar in a transaction that valued the company at $5 billion in 2006. “As you can surmise from the price we’re paying for the remaining interest, IMC has enjoyed very significant growth over the last seven years, ” Buffett said in the statement.
Iscar has about 12, 000 employees now double the number they had just six years ago. Jacob Harpaz will remain chief executive officer of Tefen, Israel-based IMC, the companies said today in a statement.
Buffett has structured deals to buy Marmon Holdings and IMC to allow the selling families to retain a stake in the companies they built. Berkshire can then increase its ownership with the price based on the results after the initial deal.
A year ago, Buffett said about ISCAR, “Its sales growth and overall performance are unique in its industry. Iscar’s managers – Eitan Wertheimer, Jacob Harpaz and Danny Goldman – are brilliant strategists and operators. When the economic world was cratering in November 2008, they stepped up to buy Tungaloy, a leading Japanese cutting-tool manufacturer. Tungaloy suffered significant damage when the tsunami hit north of Tokyo last spring. But you wouldn’t know that now: Tungaloy went on to set a sales record in 2011. I visited the Iwaki plant in November and was inspired by the dedication and enthusiasm of Tungaloy’s management, as well as its staff. They are a wonderful group and deserve your admiration and thanks.”
Buffett has called ISCAR one among Berkshire’s “fabulous five” non-insurance operations, including Marmon, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, Lubrizol and MidAmerican Energy. The group had aggregate earnings of $10.1 billion last year, up about $600 million from 2011.
