Buffett keen on investments overseas

Warren Buffett said he wants Berkshire Hathaway to make more investments overseas, as he pinpointed areas such as Europe and Japan as having potential.

The billionaire investment legend is trying to put Berkshire's cash pile to more profitable use, and said he would ideally like to shrink the company's cash to about $10 billion, from about $40 billion currently.

Mr Buffett, Berkshire's chairman and chief executive officer, said he has concerns about the dollar, which he sees weakening further, and he also said he doesn't find "screaming bargains" in the United States in big companies at present.

Mr Berkshire made its first acquisition of a non-US based company, with a deal to buy 80 per cent of Israel's Iscar Metalworking Cos. in a transaction valuing the closely held tool firm at $5 billion.

Mr Buffett said that while Berkshire had always been willing to do things outside the United States, it wasn't offered many opportunities in the past, though more might now come after the Iscar buy.

He told Berkshire's annual meeting over the weekend he was eyeing a possible $15 billion acquisition, but said there was only a small chance of that happening, and gave no further details.

Some 24,000 shareholders packed Omaha's Qwest centre to hear Mr Buffet speak. Many have made healthy gains from Berkshire stock, which has far outperformed benchmark indexes since Mr Buffett took over the company in 1965.

Mr Buffet, speaking at a news conference, said he sees opportunity for investments in Europe and Britain, which looked a "fertile field", and sees potential for buying whole companies in Japan, partly because of a rise in shareholder activism that could encourage firms to find a home at Berkshire.