--- description: Germany is the über-economy of Europe title: Why Warren Buffett Wants to Buy a Bunch of German Companies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Warren Buffett Wants to Buy a Bunch of German Companies by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2015 1:38 PM CUT by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2015 1:38 PM CUT Legendary investor Warren Buffett is preparing to buy companies in Europe’s biggest and most reliable economy after purchasing a German motorcycle parts maker this month. Buffett said in an interview published Wednesday in the newspaper [Handelsblatt](https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/123/ressort/finance/article/warren-buffets-german-to-do-list "undefined") that his Berkshire Hathaway holding company is eyeing companies in Germany because of the size of its economy and its regulatory framework. “Germany is a terrific market, lots of people, lots of buying power, productive, it’s got a legal system we feel very good with, it’s got a regulatory system we feel very good with, it’s got people we feel very good with—and customers,” Buffett said. Berkshire Hathaway acquired family-owned motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer Detlev Louis Motorrad-Vertriebs in February and is looking to expand its footprint in Germany. Berkshire Hathaway [purchased](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/25/us-buffet-m-a-germany-idUSKBN0LT0UB20150225 "undefined") the company for a little more than 400 million euros ($456 million), Reuters reports. Buffett said he was ready to pay cash for good German companies, despite the weakness of the euro currency, which has dropped more than 15% against the dollar over the past year. \[[_Handelsblatt_](https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/123/ressort/finance/article/warren-buffets-german-to-do-list "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/"},"headline":"Why Warren Buffett Wants to Buy a Bunch of German Companies","datePublished":"2015-02-25T13:38:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:41:45.829Z","description":"Germany is the über-economy of Europe","url":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/","keywords":["Companies","Economy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/","name":"Why Warren Buffett Wants to Buy a Bunch of German Companies"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Enter the Car Business","description":"Warren Buffett has announced the buyout of Van Tuyl Auto Group, the 5th largest dealership in the country and the largest privately owned dealership.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ExuOBCRx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-02T17:42:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ExuOBCRx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/","duration":"PT1M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3721834/warren-buffett-germany/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```