Berkshire Hathaway and CEO Warren Buffett has offered to be a potential finance partner for Dan Gilbert in the Cleveland Cavaliers owner’s quest to buy Yahoo.
While there’s no given that they will be able to purchase the company, the intrigue of having two big names such as Buffett and Gilbert brings interest to the situation.
Buffett told CNBC how he admires Gilbert:
“I’m an enormous admirer of Dan and what he has accomplished in Quicken Loans. Yahoo is not the type of thing I’d ever be an equity partner in. I don’t know the business and wouldn’t know how to evaluate it, but if Dan needed financing, with proper terms and protections, we would be a possible financing help.”
The pair will be an underdog to Verizon Communications Inc., who picked up steam last year after acquiring AOL last year for over $4 billion. The purchase makes them the favorite to win its bid for Yahoo’s assets.
This is not the first time Buffett and Berkshire have provided financing. They had helped investment firm 3G Capital takeover Heinz and Kraft, and were an equity partner in that transaction, according to CNBC. The Yahoo deal would be similar but not just alike, as Berkshire would only be helping out with financing if they’re able to win the bid.
According to CNBC, Buffett and Gilbert have been good friends since 2012. Gilbert joined the Giving Pledge, which was created by Buffett and Bill Gates to encourage billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth.
If the whole Yahoo deal doesn’t work out, maybe Buffett can help Gilbert pay some of that luxury tax that the Cavaliers will be paying due to the contracts they handed out last summer.
[CNBC]
