Buffett has another new move.

As market fears that the Bank of Japan will soon raise interest rates again subside, Buffett's$Berkshire Hathaway-A (BRK.A.US)$The lowest premium on yen bonds in more than two years is being sought.

On Thursday, Berkshire raised 263.3 billion yen (about $1.71 billion) by issuing yen bonds.

This is the largest yen bond issued by Buffett since 2019, and one of the largest yen transactions by overseas issuers since the Bank of Japan withdrew from negative interest rates last month.

There are 7 types of bonds issued this time, ranging from 3 to 30 years, including a three-year bond worth 169 billion yen.

According to data, Berkshire is a regular issuer of Japanese yen bonds and has entered the market twice in 2023 and 2022.

The additional proceeds from this bond issue are likely to be lower than Berkshire's bonds over the past two years.

For example, the spread between a three-year bond and a medium-term swap is 51 basis points, compared to 59 basis points in November 2023 and 75 basis points in April 2023.

The spread of Japanese yen bonds issued by Berkshire in the past two years

On Wednesday, interest spreads on yen corporate bonds between Japanese and foreign issuers narrowed from around 66 basis points a year ago to around 51 basis points.

In terms of impact, this transaction will be a key test for yen-denominated bonds, and it will also attract the attention of stock market investors.

People speculate that Buffett's sale of bonds may be preparing to enter the Japanese stock market again.

Previously, Buffett bought shares in Japan's top five trading companies, driving the Nikkei 225 Index to a record high.

In a February shareholder letter, Buffett said that Berkshire plans to fund most of the Japanese company's investments by issuing yen bonds.

Buffett and Berkshire hope to eventually hold 9.9% of each of Japan's five largest trading companies.

Up to now, Buffett has$Mitsubishi (8058.JP)$8.58%,$ITOCHU (8001.JP)$7.47%,$Marubeni (8002.JP)$8.41% of the shares.

Editor/Somer