Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may issue bonds priced in yen, potentially signaling more Japanese stock buys

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has started to explore issuing yen bonds, according reports.
• The conglomerate has established itself over recent years as a top foreign issuer of yen bonds.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may issue more bonds in yen, which could suggest further investments in Japanese stocks, according to a Nikkei Asia report.

Berkshire has tapped BofA Japan Securities and Mizuho Securities to underwrite the bonds, and part of the money raised will be used to refinance debt coming due this year, Nikkei said.

Buffett's empire is a top foreign issuer of yen bonds and has issued them in each of the last three years. Its most recent offering came in December at a total of 115 billion yen, or about $870 million. Berkshire holds about 1 trillion in yen-denominated debt outstanding, Refinitiv data cited by Nikkei shows.

The latest yen bond deal could price as soon as Friday, sources told Bloomberg. Multiple tranches may go up up for sale, with the 30-year maturity at about 125 basis points, it added.

New yen bond issuance could lead to Berkshire further adding to its Japanese stock portfolio. In August 2020, Berkshire disclosed stakes in Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co., and said it boosted its holdings in those companies in November 2022.

The potential new bonds also come as Kazuo Ueda takes over the Bank of Japan. Recent statements of his suggest that monetary easing could remain in place in the short term, though markets are bracing for an eventual shift toward tighter policy.

Japan's 10-year bond yields have ticked higher as traders buoy themselves for Ueda's potential monetary policy adjustments.