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Buffett looks to buy in Europe
Evening Standard 23 Apr 2008
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is heading to Europe next month with an eye to picking up one of the Continent's dynastic family companies, his guide on the trip says.
Angelo Moratti, vice president of Milan-based refiner Saras, said the purpose of the trip is to meet family-owned companies, "typical European dynasties".
He added: "Sooner or later one of these great businesses will fall into his hands."
The Berkshire Hathaway chairman will visit Milan, Madrid and cities as yet unspecified in Germany and Switzerland. With a plunging dollar, Buffett is now looking abroad for opportunities.
Moratti told Bloomberg he was organising the tour with Eitan Wertheimer, president of Israel-based Iscar Metalworking, which was acquired for $4 billion (£2.01 billion) by Berkshire in 2006, in Buffett's first non-US acquisition.
Buffett said then he hoped buying Iscar would raise Berkshire's international profile, helping him find acquisition candidates in "the bigger economies".
