Berkshire Hathaway Inc said it has acquired slightly more than 5% of the shares in five large Japanese companies, marking a departure for Chairman Warren Buffett as he looks outside the United States to bolster his conglomerate.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Buffett’s 90th birthday, Berkshire said it acquired its stakes in Itochu Corp, Marubeni Corp, Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsui & Co and Sumitomo Corp over approximately 12 months.<\/p>\n
Berkshire said it intends to hold the investments for the long term, and may boost its stakes to 9.9%. A Berkshire insurance business, National Indemnity Co, is holding the shares.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan,\u201d Buffett said in a statement. \u201cThe five major trading companies have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely to have more…. I hope that in the future there may be opportunities of mutual benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Japanese investments will help Buffett reduce his Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate’s dependence on the U.S. economy, which last quarter suffered its deepest contraction in at least 73 years as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.<\/p>\n
Many of Berkshire’s own operating businesses have struggled, and Berkshire this month took a $9.8 billion writedown on its Precision Castparts aircraft parts business.<\/p>\n
Berkshire owns more than 90 businesses including the BNSF railroad and Geico car insurer outright.<\/p>\n
It also invests in dozens of companies including Apple Inc , with a roughly $125 billion stake based on its holdings as of June 30, as well as American Express Co, Bank of America Corp and Coca-Cola Co.<\/p>\n
Most of Berkshire’s operating businesses are American, though it has acquired a handful of foreign companies including Israel’s IMC International Metalworking and German motorcycle apparel retailer Detlev Louis.<\/p>\n
Additional investments in Japan could also help Buffett reduce Berkshire’s cash stake, which ended June at a record $146.6 billion <\/p>\n<\/div>\n