Nothing, really.
But the federal government’s refusal to allow London-based
BAE to buy Marine Hydraulics highlights the inconsistencies in how the feds treat buyouts.
The federal government blocked the buyout because it would
hurt competition in the local shipyard industry, according to press
reports.
Both BAE and MHI do extensive ship repair work for the U.S.
Navy, their main customer.
The U.S. Navy could have been the culprit. Or maybe the
Pentagon got concerned that too much of the ship repair work was being done by
too few companies.
Naval ships do glide into foreign shipyards, when necessary,
to get work done, but that’s another column.
So the feds block this deal.
But Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire-Hathaway seem to
have a free hand in buying a string of newspapers in North
Carolina and Virginia .
In doing so, Buffet is buying control of markets, news and advertising
dollars.
Yet the feds say nothing.
He now controls markets from Roanoke
to Richmond .
Which newspaper is his next target?
The Virginian-Pilot?
The Daily Press?
Buffet already owns the Greensboro News and Record and the
Roanoke Times, both of which were owned by Landmark Media Enterprises LLC,
owner of The Pilot.
Talk about eliminating competition…
The Roanoke Times has no competition.
The Richmond-Times Dispatch has no competition.
Buffet has bought the biggest and most powerful voice and
media platforms in these markets.
Yet the feds say nothing.
It’s only a matter of time before he grabs one of the two
newspapers in Tidewater.
It could be the Daily Press.
Should he buy either newspaper, Buffet will control a
corridor from eastern Virginia to southwest Virginia .
Yet the feds will say nothing, in my opinion.
Buffet is shrewd.
He bad mouthed newspapers a few years ago and shareholders
panicked, pulled their money. Wall Street obliged Buffet and punished newspaper
companies for their inefficiency, debt and inability to keep up with the times.
Buffet admits that he’s an Obama fan. He admits that he
voted for Obama.
But don’t consider Buffet a man of the people.
He’s not your grandfatherly type. He’s clever and knows a
good deal when he sees one.
Published by Indie News Network LLC