Oxstones Investment Club™Warren Buffett is big on China. At this year’s annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRKA +0.75%, he called the country’s growth “totally miraculous.”
- Bloomberg News
He’s seen it firsthand, having traveled to the country four times since 1995 – no mean feat for a man who likes to conduct his business out of Omaha when he can. Mr. Buffett’s suits come from China too– he owns more than 20 of them tailored by a Chinese clothier.
And if Berkshire’s holdings don’t reflect this appetite for China, it’s not for lack of trying on Mr. Buffett’s part. Last year, Berkshire made a bid on a substantial block of shares in a major Chinese company, but the deal didn’t work out, the billionaire investor said in an interview. He declined to provide a name. He’s looked at other deals too, but nothing has borne fruit yet.
One early China deal worked out profitably for Berkshire. In 2003, Berkshire bought 1.3% of PetroChina Co. at a cost of less than $500 million. Four years later, Berkshire sold its shares, making more than $3 billion on the investment.
Berkshire does own nearly 10% of electric-vehicle maker BYD, a deal struck in 2008. The company’s shares have been volatile; the stock nosedived in December on rumors that Berkshire was cutting its stake. But Mr. Buffett said Berkshire has never sold a share of BYD and doesn’t plan to either.
As we relate elsewhere on WSJ.com today, the admiration that Mr. Buffett has for Chinaruns both ways. Click here for more.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/06/09/warren-buffett-admits-hes-tried-to-buy-more-than-suits-in-china/
Tags: Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire’s holdings, billionaire investor, BYD, China, China deal, Chinese shares, Chinese suits, Warren Buffett