Warren Buffett¡¯s Berkshire Hathaway is planning to sell yen bonds in the global markets, fueling speculation that the billionaire is weighing more investments in Japan.

The U.S. conglomerate mandated banks for a potential benchmark SEC-registered bond offering, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal may come in the near future, subject to market conditions.

Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to kick off a yen deal after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world¡¯s last negative interest rate.

Spreads on yen-denominated bonds from both Japanese and overseas issuers have tightened to the lowest since September 2022 amid signs BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda won¡¯t rush to hike interest rates again. The extra yield investors seek for corporate debt is about 52 basis points, down from 67 a year ago.

¡°Berkshire¡¯s plan to sell a yen bond is spurring speculation that the company may buy more trading-house shares,¡± said Atsuko Ishitoya, a strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Shares of Mitsubishi gained as much as 2.8%, Sumitomo jumped 2.3% and Marubeni rose 1.9%, while the Topix added 0.9% Tuesday.

The purchases by the legendary U.S. investor helped to propel gains in the Japanese stock market last year, with analysts trying to scope out what his next targets might be.

¡°There is hope that undervalued stocks, firms with brand strength as well as financial-related companies may be bought, too. It¡¯s positive for overall Japanese stocks,¡± Ishitoya said.

The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ?122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal. It¡¯s a regular issuer of yen bonds, and often taps the market in April.

¡°The timing for foreigners to invest in Japanese companies couldn¡¯t be better,¡± said Shunsuke Oshida, head of credit research at Manulife Investment Management Japan. ¡°With the governance reforms and the Tokyo bourse¡¯s message to the capital markets, it makes sense that more and more companies are becoming investor-friendly and so foreigners would want to raise funds to invest in them.¡±

Buffett said in his annual letter to investors in late February that Japanese trading companies are following investor-friendly policies, driving speculation that he may increase his stakes in these companies. Berkshire Hathaway has funded most of its current Japanese investment through yen bonds, the letter said.

¡°Berkshire has issued big amounts in the past, surpassing ?100 billion, which shows that it¡¯s been successful in attracting a wide range of investors,¡± said Kazuma Ogino, senior credit analyst at Nomura Securities.