On his first visit to Japan in November 2011, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett posed for a photo session during the opening ceremony of a new plant in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, built by Tungaloy Corp in which Berkshire Hathaway is invested. November 21, 2011.
Valuations in the sector have trailed the broader stock market in recent years, dragged down by falling commodities prices and an investor rotation towards technology stocks that has accelerated during the pandemic. Most of the Japanese companies targeted by Berkshire are major players in the nation’s energy and raw-materials industries, trade at less than book value and offer higher dividend yields than the benchmark Topix index.
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan and the five companies we have chosen for investment,” Buffett said in the statement. “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.”
Berkshire said it plans to hold the Japan investments for the long term and has pledged to only own as much as 9.9% of the shares in any of the five companies, unless given specific approval by the investee firm’s board of directors.