Berkshire Hathaway Unit Buys German Pipe Component Maker

By Monica Houston-Waesch and William Wilkes 

FRANKFURT -- A unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to buy piping components maker Wilhelm Schulz GmbH, the billionaire investor's second acquisition in Germany.

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Precision Castparts Corp. will buy the Krefeld-based company for an undisclosed price, Rainer Floeth, general manager at Wilhelm Schulz, said on Monday.

The company had 2016 sales of 200 million euros ($214 million) and employs roughly 320 people in Germany and 200 in the U.S., he said.

"For both sides, (the deal is) a positive way to proceed in global markets," Mr. Floeth said.

Berkshire Hathaway continues to scout out potential acquisitions in Germany, said Zypora Kupferberg, an investment adviser who works for Mr. Buffett's portfolio manager Ted Weschler to identify targets in Europe's largest eco n o m y.

"They are looking for acquisitions to take as they are, for 'pearls' -- not companies requiring restructuring," she said of the German market.

Berkshire Hathaway made its first German acquisition in 2015 when it bought Detlev Louis Motorradvertriebs, a retailer of motorcycle apparel and accessories, for a little over EUR400 million.

A spokesman for Precision Castparts declined to comment on the deal to buy Wilhelm Schulz.

Berkshire agreed in 2015 to buy Precision Castparts for about $32.7 billion in cash, its largest acquisition. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company makes metal components for industry with a workforce of about 30,500 people.

Wilhelm Schulz's operations in Mississippi, Schulz Xtruded Products, produce seamless stainless steel pipes and supply the aviation industry with fuselage, engine and landing gear parts.

The transaction was first reported by Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper.

Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2017 13:45 ET (18:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.