Billionaire investor Warren Buffett (Alex Wong/Getty Images)Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it has acquired slightly more than 5% of the outstanding share in five of Japan's biggest trading companies.
The billionaire investor's company revealed that it has built passive stakes over 5% of Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Marubeni, and Sumitomo over the past 12 months. The stakes are worth nearly $6.3bn combined as of Aug 24.
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan and the five companies we have chosen for investment. The five major trading companies have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely to have more of these partnerships. I hope that in the future there may be opportunities of mutual benefit.” the company said in a press release.
The five trading companies have stakes in a variety of businesses including interests in energy and mining. Mitsubishi and Itochu have a controlling stake in major convenience-store chain in Japan.
Berkshire Hathaway, the largest company in the U.S. as measured by shareholders’ equity, highlighted its longstanding positions in Coca-Cola, American Express, and Moody's in the statement, underscoring its intention to maintain the Japanese investments for the long term.
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