Berkshire Hathaway does not make hostile takeover bids.

Judge as of 2017-02-27 whether Berkshire Hathaway, as a matter of practice, does not make hostile takeover bids, meaning offers made or pursued against the wishes of the target's board or management. True: the record up to that date shows no hostile bids by Berkshire, or only cases from before present management or very marginal ones that do not contradict the practice. Mostly true: the practice clearly holds, but there is one minor or old exception, or an ambiguous case, such as a stake building that was arguably unfriendly but never became a takeover bid. Mixed: Berkshire has made more than one bid that could fairly be called hostile, alongside a general friendly-only policy. Mostly false: documented hostile bids are a significant part of its acquisition record, so the statement overstates a partial practice. False: Berkshire has clearly and repeatedly made hostile takeover bids.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 52 Brunswick Review (Brunswick Group), Issue 14 · 2018

   “Someone was making a hostile bid, and Warren read about it in The Wall Street Journal, and he called the CEO and said, “If you want a friendly acquisition, give me a call.””

2. E2 52 Brunswick Review (Brunswick Group), Issue 14 · 2018

   “It’s almost always the company or an agent approaching Warren. He’s managed to create a network and a reputation that generates lots of”

3. E3 Transatlantic Rallies After Rejecting Berkshire Bid CNBC · 9 August 2011

   “Transatlantic said late Monday that the $52-per-share bidfrom Berkshire's National Indemnity did not qualify as a superior bid over its current deal with Switzerland-based Allied World Assurance, but because the bid might lead to a superior deal, the company agreed to talks and to exchange information.”

4. E4 Transatlantic Rallies After Rejecting Berkshire Bid CNBC · 9 August 2011

   “Last month, Transatlantic rejected a hostile takeover bid from fellow insurer Validus Holdings .”

An independent 2018 interview says Berkshire's acquisitions almost always start with the company or its agent approaching Buffett (E2). It describes Buffett offering a friendly deal to a company that another party was pursuing with a hostile bid (E1). The one case of a Berkshire bid in the evidence is National Indemnity's offer for Transatlantic in 2011. The target judged that offer not superior to its existing deal but agreed to talks and to exchange information (E3), while the hostile bid in that article came from Validus, not Berkshire (E4). The target judged this bid not superior to its existing deal but agreed to talks and to exchange information [E3]; the evidence does not show the bid was pursued against the target board's wishes, so it is at most an ambiguous case and the friendly-only practice largely holds; the evidence is not a full record of Berkshire's deals.