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Buffett to buy German motorcycle-equipment retailer

Warren BuffettAP

NEW YORK — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to buy Detlev Louis Motorradvertriebs, a motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer in Germany, for $452 million as the company expands in Europe.

Ute Louis, the widow of founder Detlev Louis, sold the Hamburg-based company to a subsidiary of Berkshire, according to an e-mailed statement Friday from law firm Beiten Burkhardt, which advised on the sale alongside Kupferberg Transactions.

‘‘We’re probably going to buy a small business in Europe,’’ Buffett said in an interview on the Fox Business Network earlier this month. ‘‘But I’d love to buy big ones.’’

Buffett, 84, has built Berkshire over more than four decades by buying companies and investing in stocks. While the Omaha company has mainly purchased US firms, Berkshire acquired Israel’s IMC International Metalworking Cos. starting in 2006.

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The Financial Times reported the transaction and the terms earlier Friday.

‘‘For Berkshire Hathaway, this is the first direct investment in a mid-sized company in Europe,’’ the law firm said in the statement. ‘‘The acquisition is tied to the long-term management of the enterprise under the company name Louis,’’ which provides continuity for employees.

Louis has annual sales of about $307 million and employs more than 1,500 people in Germany and Austria, according to the statement from Beiten Burkhardt. The retailer also offers its goods online and via a catalog.

It’s not the first time Berkshire has bet on motorcycles. In 2009, Buffett agreed to buy $300 million of debt from Harley-Davidson Inc. to help prop up the motorcycle maker.

Buffett’s firm agreed to buy Van Tuyl Group, the largest private US auto dealer, in October. At the time, Buffett said he’d build the dealership group with more acquisitions and rebrand it as Berkshire Hathaway Automotive.