Copyright cnbc
While Berkshire is closing out its Chinese investment, it continues to expand its holdings of Japanese "trading house" stocks. This week, Mitsui said in a news release that it was "informed" by Berkshire that "they now hold 10% or more of the voting rights in Mitsui as a result of an additional acquisition of our shares." It did not, however, know the exact number of shares Berkshire now owns. In a March 17 disclosure, Berkshire reporting holding a 9.8% stake of 285,401,400 Mitsui shares. They would be valued at around $7.3 billion at today's close. Late last month, a Mitsui official told Reuters Berkshire raised its stake but declined to give a percentage. At the same time, Mitsubishi said in a regulatory filing that Berkshire's stake had increased to 10.2% from 9.7%. We haven't heard anything about Berkshire's three other Japanese holdings, Itochu, Marubeni, and Sumitomo, but it would not be a surprise to learn those stakes have also gone above 10%.
