An announcement arrives just in time for the holiday season from Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK.A) Warren Buffett and Oriental Trading’s Sam Taylor.
Berkshire will be acquiring the Omaha-based Oriental Trading, the country’s biggest direct retailer of party supplies, arts and crafts, school supplies, and toys.
The transaction, worth $500 million, is set to be completed in November.
Bloomberg quotes Buffett on the deal:
“We are delighted to have them join the Berkshire Hathaway family and continue their quest to make the world more fun,” Buffett said in the statement. “They have had several changes to ownership in the past, but OTC has a permanent home with Berkshire Hathaway.”
Oriental Trading has a long history—over 80 years—and more than 40,000 products, but it recovered just last year from bankruptcy due to the worldwide economic slowdown, drastically reducing consumer confidence. Today the firm continues to employ more than 2,000 people.
Oriental Trading was advised financially in this deal by Lazarus Middle Market, while Debevoise and Plimpton LLP provided legal guidance. Berkshire received its legal counsel from Munger, Tolles, & Olson LLP.
