Berkshire Hathaway just announced they are acquiring Taylor Morrison (TMHC) for $72.5/share, or an $8.5B enterprise value. The implied premium is roughly 24% on latest share price
The multiple for the deal is cheap at ~9.3x LTM earnings or ~8.8x adjusted earnings. On a book value basis, Berkshire is paying ~1.2x book. Historical homebuilders have transacted at 1.0-1.5x book value, so this is on the lower end of the range
Interesting deal for a few reasons
> Clayton Homes, which is currently owned by Berkshire, has seen sales slide downwards because of high interest rates. New CEO Greg Abel called this out directly at 2026 shareholder meeting. They have to believe that mortgage rates are at or near its peak for this new deal to make sense
> During the same annual meeting, they had explicitly mentioned that Berkshire would try to consolidate their homebuilding assets into a combined platform. This includes Clayton Homes, MiTek, Bejamin Moore, Acme Brick, Shaw etc. They also own the brokerage side through Berkshire HomeServices. TMHC fits into the picture by supplementing these existing platforms. This is also the first major acquisition by Greg Abel after succeeding Warren Buffett
This exact scenario — a player appearing on both rosters of the two teams meeting in the NBA Finals the same season — has happened 3 times before:
• Anderson Varejao (2016): Cavs → Warriors (via Portland). Cavs vs Warriors.
• Dion Waiters (2020): Heat → Lakers (via Memphis). Heat vs Lakers.
• Torrey Craig (2021): Bucks → Suns. Bucks vs Suns.
Sochan is the 4th. In each case the player was positioned for a ring either way depending on the winner and team decisions.
This is a wonderful article on how Kikkoman built itself into the default soy sauce of choice over multiple decades since WW2:
'Kikkoman not only built a presence in America from scratch — it single-handedly created the market and became synonymous with the category. It is a study in what market entry looks like when strategy is driven not by quarterly targets or even five-year plans, but as just another step in a journey spanning multiple centuries.'
@realroseceline I’ve been enjoying your $WING posts and I like fast casual food in general but is there anything that makes them unique from other brands like MCD or $YUM or $QSR? All are asset light, almost entirely franchised, royalty companies. Is it saturation for them vs wing? valuation?
$CPH.TO ATH. Still sitting on a pile of shares I bought in 2022 when this was basically a cash shell trading at $3/share.
Has been an incredibly boring thing to own at various points. Find conviction, secure a low cost basis, be patient, and let your winners run. Biggest mistake I see investors make is exiting good businesses they know well out of boredom to chase something more exciting.
Disney repurchased ~$5.5 billion of stock over the past six months (1H FY26)
By comparison, they had repurchased ~$6.5 billion over the prior seven years