The acquisitions Berkshire Hathaway has made in the past have created great value for the shareholders of the company, with 20.2 percent growth over the past 46 years. So anytime the company Warren Buffet runs purchases another asset, the likelihood it will be profitable is very high. The latest Berkshire acquisition is the assets of MyAssist Inc., a concierge and personal-assistant service, from the Noel Group. The company provides personalized services for companies across many different industry sectors.
MyAssist delivers cloud-based customized personal solutions by incorporating the latest technology, including call center services, product support, personal systems, travel assistance and emergency support.
While the company provides services for many different organizations and has additional assets, the acquisition may have been executed to take advantage of the connected car market. MyAssist delivers concierge service for Mercedes-Benz and also has Ford as a customer.
"We are approaching potential acquisitions strategically and thoughtfully as we build our business for the long term. We believe MyAssist’s list of customers speaks volumes about the appeal of its products and the quality of its services," said Peter Eastwood, President of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance.
According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the connected car market is set to grow at an estimated CAGR of 41.2 percent from 2013-2018 with a market value of $98.42 billion, numbers that are sure to impress even Warren Buffet.
This market is growing at a very fast rate with companies in the automotive, telecommunications, personalized services, machine-to-machine, semiconductors, computing and others making their stake early in the development of the technology. The growth is being driven by the collaboration of many of these players, which has been controlled by small companies until very recently.
The collaboration between AT&T and Amdocs, provider of customer experience systems and services, earlier this month is going to see both companies introducing new products and services at the AT&T Drive Studio, a new center in Atlanta dedicated to the connected car market. The car initiative was announced at the 2014 Developer Summit in Las Vegas along with the CES.
As Chris Penrose, senior vice president, emerging devices, AT&T Mobility put it, "The car is about to become essentially one more connected device on a customer's shared data plan," which will usher in a wave of paid service.