Why Warren Buffett is happy to walk away from table
The backer of Kraft Heinz bid sought a friendly Unilever deal
New York — Warren Buffett is so good at deal-making that bankers and salesmen study his musings endlessly for clues on how he does it. But even he does not always get his way. And he has advice on that, too. On Sunday, Kraft Heinz withdrew its Buffett-backed bid for Unilever, which would have created the world’s second-largest food and beverage company. It adds to a list of proposed transactions involving Buffett or his partners that were not completed, such as reported attempts to buy Yahoo’s core assets or to take over cosmetics maker Avon Products. The decision to back off so quickly after Unilever said it was not interested may seem illogical. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has $80bn in cash that is barely earning anything. The proposed deal would have invested some of it in partnership with private equity firm 3G Capital, which has already made him a lot of money. But it illustrates one of Buffett’s favourite investing principles: there is no need to chase deals. Buying companies...
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