巴菲特12天收购铁路巨头过程披露

　　伯克希尔•哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway)这笔史上最大的交易，始于12天以前得克萨斯州沃思堡(Fort Worth, Texas)的一次简短交谈。
　　The biggest deal in Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, BRKB) history began with a brief conversation 12 days ago in Fort Worth, Texas.

　　10月22日，时值周四，来这里参加伯克希尔公司董事会会议的沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)，来到马修•罗斯(Matthew Rose)的办公室，拜访了Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp.的这位首席执行长。
　　Warren Buffett, in town for a Berkshire board meeting, stopped in to see Matthew Rose, the CEO of Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp. (BNI) at Mr. Rose's office on Thursday, Oct. 22.

　　巴菲特已从2006年开始持有这家公司的股票。按照熟悉这笔交易的一位人士的说法，巴菲特这次是对罗斯和他的高管团队的一次“礼节性拜访”。拜访临近结束时，巴菲特跟罗斯单独坐下来，提出了由伯克希尔收购Burlington的想法。当天Burlington公布财报。
　　Mr. Buffett, who has owned shares in the railroad since 2006, was making what one person familiar with the deal said was 'a courtesy call,' on Mr. Rose and his senior management team. Late in the visit, when sitting alone with Mr. Rose, Mr. Buffett suggested the idea of Berkshire acquiring Burlington, which was announcing earnings that day.

　　巴菲特表示，他当时跟罗斯说，“只要你有兴趣，我们肯定会有兴趣”。巴菲特说，如果我喜欢一家公司并拥有其股票，那么我通常不介意拥有整个公司。
　　Mr. Buffett said he told Mr. Rose, ''if you'd ever be interested, we'd certainly be interested.' If I like a company and own the stock, I usually wouldn't mind owning it.'

　　这笔交易的速度引人注目。多数大额、涉及数十亿美元的交易，从开始到结束都要花几个月的时间。本周Stanley Works收购Black & Decker，就要从5月份的非正式会谈算起。
　　The speed with which the deal came together is noteworthy. Most large, multibillion-dollar deals take months from beginning to end. This week's $4.5 billion purchase of Black & Decker Corp. by Stanley Works began with informal talks in May.

　　巴菲特的声望，也使他能够按照不同于其他很多老总的规则来行事。他可以在几天的时间里就拿出几十亿美元，而不担心股东的不同意见。
　　Mr. Buffett's reputation also allows him to play by different rules than many CEOs--able to spend billions in a matter of days without fear of shareholder dissent.

　　10月22日当天，与罗斯会谈过后，巴菲特和他的董事会详细地讨论了这件事情。熟悉内情的人士说，讨论的结果就是“让我们来动手做这件事情”。这位人士提到，好几年以来，巴菲特就喜欢投资于各种各样的铁路公司。
　　Later on Oct. 22, Mr. Buffett and his board discussed the matter at length. The verdict was 'let's take a shot at this,' said a person familiar with the matter, who noted that Mr. Buffett has liked investing in various railroads for several years.

　　第二天巴菲特和罗斯又碰面了，这次是在巴菲特下榻的酒店。两人详细讨论了交易的框架，包括每股100美元的出价。
　　Mr. Buffett and Mr. Rose met again the next day, this time at Mr. Buffett's hotel. The two discussed the framework for a deal at length, including the $100 per share offer.

　　熟悉内情的人士说，周五（10月23日）的时候，巴菲特态度非常明确，并清楚表达了自己收购Burlington的意愿。
　　'Warren was very explicit on Friday and clearly articulated his desire to own Burlington,' said a person familiar with the matter.

　　罗斯在随后的周末通知了董事会成员，并召开了一次紧急电话会议来讨论这笔交易的具体问题。
　　Mr. Rose alerted board members that weekend and a hurried conference call was convened to discuss the deal specifics.

　　周六（10月24日）上午，Burlington雇了高盛(Goldman Sachs)，然后又雇请律所Cravath, Swaine & Moore的一个团队，团队由合伙人巴谢(Scott Barshay)带领。
　　Burlington hired Goldman Sachs Saturday morning, then added a team from law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore led by partner Scott Barshay.

　　周日（10月25日）下午，Burlington还雇了Evercore Partners及其董事长阿尔特曼(Roger Altman)。这在一定程度上是因为阿尔特曼跟Burlington的董事长惠特克尔(Ed Whitacre)有着长期的关系。两人曾经在涉及SBC通信公司(SBC Communications，当时惠特克尔任该公司首席执行长)和通用汽车(General Motors，惠特克尔现在是其独立董事)的交易中合作过。
　　On Sunday afternoon, Burlington also hired Evercore Partners and its chairman, Roger Altman--in part because of Mr. Altman's long relationship with Burlington lead board member Ed Whitacre. Both men worked on deals involving SBC Communications, where Mr. Whitacre was CEO, and General Motors, where Mr. Whitacre is lead independent board member.

　　Burlington的董事会又在10月26日和10月28日开了两次电话会议。两次会议讨论的重点都是公司及其顾问提交的财务分析、公司估值和对交易的分析。
　　The board held two more conference calls, the following Monday and Wednesday. Both calls focused on financial projections, company valuations and an analysis of the deal put together by the company and its advisers.

　　熟悉内情的人士说，10月28日的会议上，董事会建议罗斯提高要价。罗斯遵从了建议，但被巴菲特拒绝。巴菲特表示，他给的价格已经处在他的估值区间的顶端。巴菲特只说：“我只能付这么多了。”
　　At that Wednesday meeting, the board recommended Mr. Rose press for more money. He did, but Mr. Buffett said no, saying 'he was at the top of his range,' said a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Buffett said, simply, 'that's all I could pay.'

　　接下来几天处理的问题是交易的税负影响问题，以及伯克希尔B类股1股拆成50股的问题。Burlington公司为挽留小股东参与交易，希望伯克希尔能如此拆股。
　　The next few days were spent working on the tax implications of the deal and the 50-for-1 stock split, which Burlington pushed for to keep smaller shareholders in on the deal.

　　Evercore公司高级执行董事阿克特(George Ackert)表示，巴菲特拆股，是为了让交易更加顺利。拆股获得了伯克希尔董事会的同意，在这笔交易上给Burlington帮了一个实实在在的忙。
　　'Warren did that [the stock split] to make this deal hum. It was agreed to and it really, really helped Burlington do this,' said Evercore Senior Managing Director George Ackert.

　　阿尔特曼曾在以前的交易中跟巴菲特谈判过，他说，跟这位亿万富翁做生意进展总是很快。
　　Mr. Altman, who has negotiated previous deals with Mr. Buffett, said deals with the Nebraskan billionaire always move fast.

　　阿尔特曼说，巴菲特喜欢迅速而公平。他不是那种斤斤计较的人。
　　'He likes to move quickly and to be fair. He's not someone who nickels or dimes,' said Mr. Altman.

　　11月2日（本周一），Burlington的董事们召开了一次面对面的会议，讨论并表决这笔交易。会议在底特律机场附近的一家万豪(Marriott)酒店举行，因为惠特克尔即将在这里参加为期两天的通用汽车董事会会议。
　　On Monday, Burlington's board of directors convened an in-person meeting to discuss and vote on the deal. The board met in Detroit, at a Marriott hotel near Detroit's airport, because Mr. Whitacre had to be there for a two-day General Motors board meeting.

　　Burlington这次会议在下午三点开始，不到六点结束。董事会全票通过了这笔交易。
　　The meeting started at 3 p.m. and was over before 6 p.m. The board voted unanimously to approve the deal.