Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) announced that it had completed its acquisition of Marmon Holdings after just two weeks of negotiation. The billionaire investor had been searching for ways to spend its $43 billion in cash on its balance sheet, but many were surprised by the move. The deal will not only be Buffet’s largest acquisition outside of the insurance industry but it also comes at a time when many are expecting a recession in the U.S. economy.

“Our transaction was done just the way Jay would have liked it to be done — no consultants or studies,” Mr. Buffett said in a statement, referring to Jay A. Pritzker, one of the founders who died in 1999. Mr. Buffett met Jay Pritzker in the 1950s and for many years served on the board of Grinnell College in Iowa with Marian Pritzker, who was married to Jay and is Thomas’s mother.

Marmon Holdings is a Chicago-based conglomerate that owns more than 125 businesses that operate more than 300 production facilities in 40 countries. These companies operate within a variety of business sectors including construction services, distribution services, highway technologies, industrial products and services, information management, metal products, retail services, transportation services, water treatment and wire and cable products. Interestingly, much of its large electrical components, water treatment and retailer services businesses are very dependent on the U.S. economy.

In the end, it is interesting that Buffett was so willing to make such a large acquisition outside of the insurance sector and during a time when the U.S.is expected to enter a recession. Perhaps Buffett believes that the U.S. is not quite as likely to enter a recession as first thought…

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