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American Morning

Minding Your Business: What Does Buffett Say?

Aired November 27, 2002 - 08:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Warren Buffett is making some news. Any time he makes a move, actually, he makes news. Burger King?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Or doesn't make a move in this case. Very interesting situation. Let me give you a little background. Burger King, the No. 2 chain after McDonald's, owned by British food giant Diageo. They have not had a good time, they were going to sell it to an American buyout group called Texas Pacific for over $2 billion.

The deal fell apart as Burger King's fortunes waned over the past couple of months, so Diageo had to find a new buyer. One of the buyers was rumored to be Warren Buffett. He does own Dairy Queen. He has made -- there he is, the Oracle of Omaha himself. Always happy. You would be too, because he is worth about $30 billion. Second richest guy in the United States after Bill Gates.

HEMMER: What would be attractive for Burger King for a guy like this?

SERWER: Well, from Burger King's perspective -- any time Warren Buffett buys something, it is instant credibility.

HEMMER: No question. No question.

SERWER: Big stamp right there, and Buffett is known for going in and buying something in deep value, something he can help get back on its feet by injecting some capital.

But yesterday, late afternoon, I learned that Warren Buffett had absolutely no interest at all in Burger King and, in fact, he was -- they were going to let him take a look at the terms of the deal. He didn't even want to see it, he said. So nothing to do. Also very interesting, yesterday in the Omaha newspaper, a fellow Omahan put out an ad urging Warren Buffett not to buy Burger King, a guy named Phil Sokolof. Here he is. This is the ad. He is saying, stay away from BK, Warren, please, because it is an unhealthy company. This is a guy who runs a heart awareness organization in Omaha. So, Phil, your wish came true. Warren is not buying Burger King.

HEMMER: "Unconscionable for a man of your stature."

SERWER: Yes -- it's just kind of interesting. One of those things -- that Buffett suggested a lot of people like to throw his name out to enhance the bidding for a company. So it's just sort of an interesting note there.

HEMMER: Very true. Thank you, Drew (ph).

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 27, 2002 - 08:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Warren Buffett is making some news. Any time he makes a move, actually, he makes news. Burger King?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Or doesn't make a move in this case. Very interesting situation. Let me give you a little background. Burger King, the No. 2 chain after McDonald's, owned by British food giant Diageo. They have not had a good time, they were going to sell it to an American buyout group called Texas Pacific for over $2 billion.

The deal fell apart as Burger King's fortunes waned over the past couple of months, so Diageo had to find a new buyer. One of the buyers was rumored to be Warren Buffett. He does own Dairy Queen. He has made -- there he is, the Oracle of Omaha himself. Always happy. You would be too, because he is worth about $30 billion. Second richest guy in the United States after Bill Gates.

HEMMER: What would be attractive for Burger King for a guy like this?

SERWER: Well, from Burger King's perspective -- any time Warren Buffett buys something, it is instant credibility.

HEMMER: No question. No question.

SERWER: Big stamp right there, and Buffett is known for going in and buying something in deep value, something he can help get back on its feet by injecting some capital.

But yesterday, late afternoon, I learned that Warren Buffett had absolutely no interest at all in Burger King and, in fact, he was -- they were going to let him take a look at the terms of the deal. He didn't even want to see it, he said. So nothing to do. Also very interesting, yesterday in the Omaha newspaper, a fellow Omahan put out an ad urging Warren Buffett not to buy Burger King, a guy named Phil Sokolof. Here he is. This is the ad. He is saying, stay away from BK, Warren, please, because it is an unhealthy company. This is a guy who runs a heart awareness organization in Omaha. So, Phil, your wish came true. Warren is not buying Burger King.

HEMMER: "Unconscionable for a man of your stature."

SERWER: Yes -- it's just kind of interesting. One of those things -- that Buffett suggested a lot of people like to throw his name out to enhance the bidding for a company. So it's just sort of an interesting note there.

HEMMER: Very true. Thank you, Drew (ph).

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com