Berkshire Hathaway, the $75 billion conglomerate run by Warren Buffett, has moved to acquire Business Wire in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of '06.

Buffett snapped up the company for over $300M, according to Bloomberg.

BW's management team, led by newly promoted CEO Cathy Tamraz, will remain in place and operations will not be affected by the ownership change, according to BH. BW will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the conglomerate.

Tamraz told O'Dwyer's that she sent Buffett a letter last year after reading a story about him in the Wall Street Journal and getting a "hunch" there might be a fit. "That led to a conversation and some talks. He checked us out and said he liked what he saw, and he made an offer," she said.

Tamraz said BW's independence is a good fit with BH's traditional hands-off demeanor.

"We've been running independently since '61 and don't like to be told what to do," she said. "While we were considering what's next for the company – strategic moves and how we are going to continue our legacy and keep strong and vibrant – one of our major criteria was keeping our employees together. We didn't want layoffs or cuts. We needed someone that would recognize that our ingredients are good ones and not want to change them. And that's what we got."

BW, which is privately held, said it posted double-digit growth in 2005. It has grown significantly overseas in the last few years, staffs 504 people with annual revenue over $120M.

Buffett had high praise for the 44-year-old newswire. "In making this acquisition of Business Wire, we have followed our blueprint of buying profitable companies that are industry leaders, yet have significant growth potential," he said in a statement. Buffett cited the company's experienced management team and called it a "gem of a company." He added: "I expect BW to continue to do what it has always done and I'll be there if I can help it in any way."

Last month, founder and CEO Lorry Lokey promoted Tamraz, a 26-year-veteran of the company, to the top executive post and said he would focus on his philanthropic pursuits, which have totaled $160M to date.

The 78-year-old Lokey said BH is "committed to providing a supportive environment" that will allow the newswire to continue overseas expansion and

BH companies include Benjamin Moore & Co., Fruit of the Loom, Buffalo (N.Y.) News, and GEICO Auto Insurance, among a roster of 42 companies.

Related story:
Lokey Gives CEO Reins to Tamraz (12/27/2005)…

Part of the fight will be each firm going after the accounts, people and
former people of the other. Dave Armon ran marketing brilliantly for PRN before rising to his present eminence, and Business Wire's powerful and brainy marketing team may be unsurpassed in the entire field of PR services. But each firm's competitive success may come not so much from salesmanship as from new or enlarged services that mean more results for clients.

When you consider how MUCH is at stake for PR accounts – often careers and sometimes the fate of whole industries (like look what happened to industries we've exported and what may yet happen to our auto companies and low-cost retailers) – the fees of PR firms and services are relatively trivial.

So the battle between the news wires, and their profitability, may well be decided not by who is better at persuasive selling and cost-cutting but who is better at delivering results that make PR and marketing people look like awesome heavy hitters to their employers.

Do you sense that Business Wire's reported anual revenue of $120 million could be doubled or tripled in the next three or four years if the firm fields services that do a job that industry will gladly pay for?

In PR no less than in professional sports, very big bucks are readily
available for top performers. The money will be available in PR services
both for those who sell and those who buy--and for those who innovate ways to deliver more client benefit.

Buffett may be aware even more than most PR and services people that when industry has BILLIONS at stake, lavish profits are available for those who can in Harold Burson's words, "move the needle."