"Chinese" fund on buying spree of stakes in Japanese firms

An investment fund reportedly based in Australia but said to be a Chinese government investment vehicle has been increasing its stakes in Japanese companies.

By the end of March, the OD05 Omnibus fund was the largest shareholder for 174 Japanese firms, the highest level ever recorded. 

The fund’s portfolio includes 1.9 per cent of Toyota Motor’s total outstanding stock, making itself Toyota’s ninth-largest shareholder, and 2.2 per cent of Honda Motor’s total outstanding shares. It also holds 1.9 per cent of shares in camera maker Nikon, and it has also been buying shares of construction machinery maker Komatsu and Nissan Motor, Nikkei said.

It estimated the total market value of the fund’s stock holdings in Japan at about 3.58 trillion yen or $45 billion, also a record. The owner ODO5 Omnibus is not known.

China’s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation reportedly said it will no longer buy European government debt.

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