Berkshire's investment strategy is both disciplined and opportunistic. We try not to forget the guidelines that have led to past successes - but we also depart from tradition to pursue compelling opportunities. Our goal is to look for quality investment opportunities that excite us.
We look for companies with acquisition values between $200 million and $2.0 billion. Typically this means that our equity investments are somewhere between $50 million and $500 million.
Historically, our investment activity has been concentrated around consumer products and retail, business services, transportation, industrial manufacturing and communications. In each of the fields we made an initial investment based on our assessment of a company's capabilities and potential. As a first success led to a second, and then a third, we developed a deep base of relevant industry knowledge.
We generally seek companies that are strong financial performers and market leaders, led by a highly motivated management team that wants to own, as well as run, the business.
Our preference is for companies located in industries with favorable dynamics for sustainable earnings growth which have resisted down cycles and show a compelling potential to improve margins and increase shareholder value.