In recent weeks, we’ve offered some suggestions for both U.S. large and midcap companies, using Buffett’s own guidelines as to what represents an attractive acquisition candidate for Berkshire Hathaway. Reflecting Buffett’s insistence on owning large-cap companies, we screened the universe of stocks in Developed Europe for those with a market capitalization of between $10 billion and $30 billion. We won’t repeat all the other criteria for inclusion in our final list: those interested may find them spelled out here. Only one of the ten Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC) economic sectors isn’t included on the subsequent list: despite his demonstrated affection for U.S. financial institutions, if Buffett stuck to his own criteria he wouldn’t be able to acquire a European bank or financial firm.
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