往事揭秘：巴菲特拯救哈雷戴维森

    外界对沃伦•巴菲特高超投资技艺偶尔冒出来的怀疑情绪本周再度消散无踪，这次是因为在所有美国企业当中具有标志性意义的密尔沃基摩托车制造商哈雷戴维森公司（Harley-Davidson, Inc.）。

    美国中西部地区的这两家著名实体，也就是巴菲特位于奥马哈的伯克希尔哈撒韦公司（Berkshire Hathaway）和哈雷戴维森公司，五年前达成的一笔交易向这家摩托车制造商注资了3.03亿美元，以期在信贷市场和美国经济同时衰退的情况下帮助后者继续能够向购买者和经销商提供贷款。当时，这笔资金的借贷利率是：15％。

    本周，哈雷戴维森公司首席财务官约翰•奥林在宣布公司第一季度财报的电话会议期间透露，公司今年2月份已经偿还了这笔贷款。

    奥林表示，公司当初之所以借这笔高息贷款，目的是为了协助购买者进行融资，同时确保公司生产线和经销商继续顺畅运营。他说，贷款是当时唯一的办法。这样，二十世纪之交之后不久在威斯康辛州成立的这家公司既能借到钱，同时又能保持所有权不变。

    奥林说：“它是让我们渡过一段艰难时期所需要的过桥贷款。”2007年至2009年期间，由于消费者用于购买摩托车、甚至汽油的可支配收入大幅减少，哈雷的经典摩托车（以其叛逆的‘重量级’摩托车骑手形象而著称）销量大幅下滑，在美国市场的跌幅更是高达50％。

    随着这家公司开始从几近深渊的谷底爬出来，它曾经希望提前偿还名下的高息贷款。但据哈雷戴维森公司透露，伯克希尔哈撒韦公司很难讨价还价，咬定利润丰厚的五年期贷款条款不放。这也难怪，因为这笔贷款为巴菲特赚到了数以百万美元计的利息收入。此前，他在2008年秋季美国金融体系摇摇欲坠之际在高盛集团（Goldman Sachs）股票上投资的五十亿美元巨资已经为他带来了一笔意外之财。

    巴菲特给高盛集团的这笔贷款的利率为10％，而且，和哈雷那笔贷款一样，当时也是这家投资银行面临紧要关头的时候。高盛在支付了大约五亿美元的利息之后，于2011年偿还了这笔贷款。

    虽然对于伯克希尔哈撒韦公司而言，向哈雷戴维森提供的这笔贷款利润同样非常丰厚，但它引起的公众关注程度远低于向高盛提供的那笔贷款，因为后者卷入了一桩重要的内幕交易诉讼。检方在那起官司中指控前高盛董事会成员拉贾特•古普塔在伯克希尔向这家投行注资的消息公诸于众之前就暗中把消息透露给了对冲基金基金创始人拉吉•拉贾拉特南，帮助后者获利一百万美元。

    伯克希尔哈撒韦公司还在可口可乐（Coca-Cola）等美国其他知名品牌持有股份，而且总是能获得良好的还款条件。2009年，伯克希尔哈撒韦公司向这家陷入困境的摩托车制造商投资了3亿美元。与此同时，哈雷戴维森的最大股东戴维斯精选顾问公司（Davis Selected Advisers LP）也向它投入了三亿美元的无抵押贷款。

    尽管经历了20世纪30年代经济大萧条以来美国经济的波折和起伏，而且在20世纪70、80年代遭到了日本摩托车制造商的冲击，但是哈雷戴维森去年仍然以实现业绩增长的态势迎来了自己成立110周年的纪念日。

    这家公司的标志性的地位似乎依然完好无损。去年，为了庆祝周年纪念日，公司创始人的孙子曾经向教皇弗朗西斯赠送了一辆2013年款的哈雷戴维森摩托车，这辆摩托车最近在巴黎的一场拍卖会上以32.7万美元的成交价卖出。这款摩托车的正常价格约为1.6万美元。

    哈雷在最近的盈利报告中表示，2014年第一季度这家公司在全球范围内已经售出了57,415辆摩托车，同比增长了5.8％。这个销售业绩促使这家公司的营收同比增长了10％，而盈利同比增长了22％。

    增长中的大部分来自于海外销售，这部分销售额比上一年增长了10.9％。这家公司习惯于向中年男性推销产品，但随着它向女性、非裔美国人和西裔消费者发动推销攻势，美国市场的销售额同比增长了3％。

    此外，这家公司还推出了一系列与其复古风格相吻合的新款摩托车型，从而也争取到了购买者。沉寂了五年之后，这家公司向市场再度推出了Low Rider摩托车型（它是1977年推出的原型Low Rider摩托车的改装车型）以及其他几款用于城市骑行和长途旅行的摩托车型。（财富中文网）

    译者：iDo98

    The occasional doubts that crop up over Warren Buffett's investment prowess were laid to rest this week -- again -- by, of all companies, Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG), the iconic Milwaukee motorcycle maker.

    A business deal struck five years ago between the two renowned Midwestern entities -- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), in Omaha, and Harley-Davidson -- infused $303 million into the motorcycle maker to help keep loans available to purchasers and dealers as credit markets sank along with the economy. The interest rate: 15%.

    Harley-Davidson paid back the loan in February, said chief financial officer John Olin during a conference call this week announcing its first-quarter earnings.

    The company took the high-interest loan, Olin said, to help finance buyers and keep its production lines and dealerships operating. It was the only way, he said. This way, the company -- which was founded in Wisconsin just after the turn of the 20th century -- could borrow money and, at the same time, keep its ownership intact.

    "It was the bridge we needed to get us through a rough time," Olin said. Between 2007 and 2009, sales of Harley's classic motorcycles -- celebrated for their heavyweight, outlaw biker image -- plummeted, down as much as 50% in the United States, as people had far less disposable income for purchases, or even for gasoline.

    As the company began to climb back from the near-abyss, it wanted to repay its high-interest loan ahead of schedule, but Berkshire Hathaway struck a harder bargain, sticking with the handsome five-year loan terms, according to Harley-Davidson. No wonder, as the loan earned millions for Buffett, who already had chalked up a stellar windfall by investing a whopping $5 billion in shares of Goldman Sachs (GS) as the financial system teetered in the fall of 2008.

    That loan had a 10% interest rate, and, like the Harley loan, came at a key time for the investment bank, which repaid the loan in 2011 -- after paying about $500 million in interest.

    While the loan to Harley-Davidson was also highly lucrative for Berkshire Hathaway, it drew much less attention than the one issued to Goldman Sachs, which became part of a key insider trading trial in which prosecutors accused former Goldman board member Rajat Gupta of helping hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam make $1 million by tipping him off to the Berkshire infusion before it became public.

    Berkshire Hathaway -- which has taken stakes in other noted American brands like Coca-Cola (KO), and always on good repayment terms -- invested $300 million in the troubled chopper manufacturer in 2009. At the same time, Davis Selected Advisers LP, Harley-Davidson's biggest shareholder, also sank $300 million in unsecured loans into the company.

    Despite twists and economic downturns as far back as the Great Depression of the 1930s, and then the onslaught from Japanese motorcycle makers in the 1970s and 1980s, Harley-Davidson celebrated its 110th anniversary last year -- on the upswing.

    Its iconic status seems to be intact. A 2013 Harley-Davidson given to Pope Francis last year by a grandson of the company's founder to mark the company's anniversary was sold recently for $327,000 at a Paris auction. Its regular price tag: around $16,000.

    In its most recent earnings report, Harley said that it sold 57,415 motorcycles worldwide during the first quarter of 2014, a 5.8% increase over the same quarter last year. This boosted total company revenue by 10%, with earnings up by 22%.

    Much of the growth came from international sales, which increased 10.9% over the prior year. Sales in the United States grew by 3% as the company, accustomed to marketing to middle-aged men, made inroads among women, African-American, and Hispanic consumers.

    The company also won over buyers by releasing new models that dovetail with its reputation for retro styling. After a five-year hiatus, it brought back the Low Rider -- a remake of the original first introduced in 1977 -- and other models for urban riding and long-distance touring.