Defense Industries International (fka DFNS)

[ghmm]

Not that I expect Warren to start buying our stock (though I certainly wouldn't object). Maybe this will bring some interest to our company

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060507/bs_nm/financial_israel_olmert_dc_1

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he believed
Warren Buffett's multi-billion dollar deal to buy an Israeli company could lead to more such transactions by foreign investors.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKA - news) (NYSE:BRKB - news) over the weekend bought 80 percent of privately held Iscar Metalworking Cos for $4 billion, marking one of the largest deals involving an Israeli company and Buffett's biggest investment outside the United States.

Iscar manufacturers metalworking tools used by makers of heavy equipment such as cars and planes. Reports about the deal dominated local news in
Israel.

"This is not just another deal for the Israeli economy," Olmert told ministers at the start of a meeting of his cabinet, which was sworn in by parliament last week.

"We are talking about the biggest investor in the world who never before made an investment outside of the United States," he said.

"His decision to invest in an Israeli company, in a country he has never visited, in a company whose (Israeli) factories he has never seen ... indicates first and foremost great confidence in Israel's economy, full trust in the stability of Israel's economic system and belief in its great potential," Olmert said.

Buffett, who bought the stake in Iscar from the Wertheimer family -- which will retain 20 percent -- was quoted as saying he would consider further investments in Israel.

"I plan further acquisitions of Israeli companies in the future," Israeli mass daily Maariv quoted him as saying from Omaha, Nebraska.

Buffett, the world's second richest man after Microsoft's
Bill Gates, also plans to visit Israel in September to inspect his investment and examine the local business scene, Maariv said.

He told thousands of shareholders on Saturday he seeks to shrink his cash pile to $10 billion from above $40 billion.

"When a man like Warren Buffett, in front of 25,000 of the most important economic minds in the world, that came to listen to him, says he believes in the Israeli economy, it's a signal that tens of thousands of investors around the world will do what's best for them," Olmert said.

"What's good for Warren Buffett with $4 billion will be good for many more investors and we can just be happy with that."

The deal sent Israeli shares up 2.6 percent on Sunday in anticipation of a jump in foreign investment.

Israel in 2003 shifted from a socialist economy to a free-market one and has courted foreign investors. International groups have bought stakes in two of Israel's top banks, Leumi and Discount, and main phone company Bezeq.

In 2005, when the economy grew 5.2 percent, foreigners invested some $10 billion. The economy is set to grow another 4-4.5 percent this year.