Warren Buffett to speak at Japan factory opening

TOKYO: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, on the hunt for acquisitions, will make his first trip to Japan later this month and speak at the opening of a new factory, event planners said.

The factory of cutting tool maker Tungaloy Corp, a unit of a firm in which Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc holds an 80 percent stake, opens in Iwaki, northeast Japan, on March 22.

The event will be attended by managers from the auto and machinery sectors, a Tungaloy spokesman said.

The list of guests, compiled by Tungaloy without imput from Berkshire Hathaway, includes Tungaloy clients such as Daihatsu Motor and IHI.

Buffett, 80, who said last month he was looking for a big acquisition, is scheduled to leave Japan directly after his visit to the former mining town, the spokesman said.

Tungaloy, formerly part of industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corp, supplies automakers with superhard tools used to cut, groove and turn engine parts.

Tungaloy is wholly owned by IMC International Metalworking Companies.