Berkshire Hathway to gradually raise stakes in five Japanese companies

In a letter to shareholders, Berkshire Hathway (BRK.A) Chairman of the Board Warren Buffett wrote, “It’s been almost six years since Berkshire began purchasing shares in five Japanese companies that very successfully operate in a manner somewhat similar to Berkshire itself. The five are ITOCHU (ITOCY), Marubeni (MARUY), Mitsubishi (MUFG), Mitsui (MITSY) and Sumitomo (SMFG). Each of these large enterprises, in turn, owns interests in a vast array of businesses, many based in Japan but others that operate throughout the world… Our holdings of the five are for the very long term, and we are committed to supporting their boards of directors. From the start, we also agreed to keep Berkshire’s holdings below 10% of each company’s shares. But, as we approached this limit, the five companies agreed to moderately relax the ceiling. Over time, you will likely see Berkshire’s ownership of all five increase somewhat.”