[May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett, speaking in Madrid during his four-day European tour, said he made a mistake by not visiting the continent 10 years ago to seek acquisitions for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
``There are going to be more large acquisitions, possibly, in Europe than in any part of the globe,'' said Buffett at a news conference today. After visiting Frankfurt and Lausanne, he wraps up his trip tomorrow in Milan as he looks to buy family-owned companies to boost earnings at Berkshire.
An economic boom lasting more than a decade helped swell the ranks of Spanish companies large enough to meet Buffett's minimum requirement of $75 million in pretax earnings. About 50 family- owned businesses including retailers El Corte Ingles and Mercadona and builder Grupo Ferrovial SA earn annual revenue of more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.89 billion), said Josep Tapies, professor of strategic management at IESE Business School.
The Berkshire chairman is known for buying privately owned companies with iconic brands and barriers to would-be rivals. Buffett, unlike private equity firms, says he buys ``for life'' and doesn't meddle in management. He's been looking for places to put Berkshire's $35 billion in cash, investing in China, Israel and the U.K. because he says there's a dearth of U.S. opportunities.
Buffett, 77, owns about a third of Berkshire, which he built over four decades from a failing maker of men's suit linings into a holding company with businesses that range from candy-making to insurance. He is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's richest man.
Berkshire earned $13.2 billion last year and has a $72.6 billion stock portfolio. Berkshire is the largest shareholder in companies including Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Kraft Foods Inc., American Express Co. and Moody's Corp. as of March 31, according to Bloomberg data.]
