By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKb), the conglomerate owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is making headlines once again as it starts marketing bonds denominated in the Japanese yen. The company has already issued more than 1 trillion yen ($7.5 billion) of such bonds in recent years and is now offering seven tranches of yen bonds that may price as early as April 14th. This move makes Berkshire Hathaway the first major overseas debt issuer to launch a yen deal under new Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda.
The credit spreads on tranches in this new deal are wider compared to when they last tapped the market in December due to speculation about BOJ pulling back on ultra-easy policy driving yield premiums higher this year. Despite this, Berkshire Hathaway remains one of the largest foreign issuers of yen bonds according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Last year, Berkshire surprised Japanese markets when it bought shares in local trading companies after selling one of the largest-ever yen bond deals by an overseas company. In November, it was reported that the firm had increased its stakes in five major Japanese trading companies including Mitsubishi Corp. (TYO:8058) and Marubeni Corp. (TYO:8002).