Buffett's Berkshire buys 5% stake each in five Japanese trading firms

(Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway <BRKa.N> said on Sunday it has acquired more than 5% stakes in each of the five leading Japanese trading companies.

Berkshire Hathaway’s wholly-owned subsidiary, National Indemnity Company, will notify Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau of the purchase of the stakes in Itochu Corp <8001.T>, Marubeni Corp <8002.T>, Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T>, Mitsui & Co Ltd <8031.T> and Sumitomo Corp <8053.T>, the company said in a statement.

Berkshire Hathaway intends to hold its Japanese investments for the long term, but may increase its holdings up to a maximum of 9.9% in any of the five investments depending on price, the company said.

“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,” Buffett said.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Paul Simao)