Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to acquire press release distribution service Business Wire

Yesterday, Berkshire Hathaway announced that the company has agreed to buy press release distribution service, Business Wire.

Berkshire Hathaway, of course, is controlled by legendary investor Warren Buffett. In making the announcement, Buffett said: "In making this acquisition of Business Wire, we have followed our blueprint of buying profitable companies that are industry leaders, yet have significant growth potential. We quickly realized that Business Wire was a gem of a company. I expect Business Wire to continue to do what it has always done and I'll be there if I can help in any way."

This is a great move for both Business Wire and Berkshire Hathaway. As I've said for years (most recently in my complimentary e-book "The new rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly"), press releases are one of the best ways companies can reach buyers. So controlling one of the top press release distribution services is a great investment. If I had a few hundred million lying around, I would have made an offer for Business Wire.

Comments

[Ken Doctor]

David: Now I'd like to see what you could do with Business Wire, what direction you would take it?

I'm curious on your take about how much Business Wire and PR Newswire are threatened today by
RSS and tomorrow by Google Base. I've not used the Business Wire service -- though I've been on receiving end of it as a journalist.

What seems clear to me is that to the degree the Business Wires of the world do more than release company news, the more they'll succeed. It looks like they are moving to provide lots of help to companies in targeting, monitoring and improving their messaging. Are these services successful and sticky for them?