Berkshires McLane Unit Buys Spirits Distributor Kahn

Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKB) subsidiary McLane Co. which is a 32 billion supply chain services provider is buying Kahn Ventures LLC which owns Empire Distributors, a wholesale alcoholicbeverage distributor based in Atlanta Georgia with operations in Georgia and North Carolina. Buffett likes buying private family run businesses and this one seems to fit the bill. As of this writing the price of the deal was not disclosed. Here again Buffett buys another simple to understand business, nothing fancy. According to other wire services its noted that Buffett might be using this as a base for further ventures in this field.

• Family run operation lead by Michael and David Kahn

• Empire has been in business since 1940

• According to industry analysts its the nation’s 15th largest beer and wine distributor.

• Over 650 employees

• Revenue of 350 million a year(2006) according to latest figures I can come by

• They have eight facilities totaling over 850,000 square feet of operating space equipped with high-tech equipment, including bottle scanning and GPS routing, to help them operate efficiently.

Author currently long BRKB