K & W Products

K & W Products is a manufacturer of specialty automotive chemicals acquired by Berkshire Hathaway on January 6, 1976.

📝 Business and Operations

Product Line: Manufactures radiator and block sealants, gasket compounds, and fuel/oil additives.
Brand Strength: The company possesses extensive trademark and trade name protection for its automotive maintenance products.
Geography: Operates manufacturing plants in California and Indiana.
Strategic Fit: While relatively small ($2 million in sales at acquisition), K & W provided a solid, taxable income stream that helped offset insurance underwriting losses.

🔗 Connections

Parent: Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Source: 1975 Letter

📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (1)

Click a reference document below to expand and read the exact paragraph(s) containing this concept in the archive.

📜

1975 LetterExcerpt Available

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Acquisition of K & W Products In addition to the 1975 Waumbec acquisition, we acquired for cash and notes on January 6, 1978, 100% of the assets of K & W Products, including its insurance subsidiaries. The insurance operations are minor in scope, representing business already associated with National Indemnity Company. K & W Products manufactures specialty automotive chemicals for use in automobile maintenance, such as radiator and block sealants, gasket compounds and fuel and oil additives. The company has extensive trademark or trade name protection for its products, which it manufactures at plants in California and Indiana. Although relatively small, with sales of a little over $2 million, it consistently has generated favorable earnings. Positioned as we now are with respect to income taxes, the addition of a solid source of taxable income is particularly welcome.

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