On Monday, Berkshire Hathaway, the giant holding company chaired by Warren Buffett, announced it had acquired a roughly 5% stake totaling approximately $6 billion in five of Japan’s largest trading houses. The purchase is the latest of Buffett’s bids to expand overseas, as his $520 billion investment firm remains heavily U.S.-weighted.
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan and the five companies we have chosen for investment,” Buffett, 90, said in a statement announcing the investment, which sent shares in all five companies up on Monday. Berkshire Hathaway had spent the past 12 months slowly acquiring its stake in the five firms: Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo.
