Warren Buffett to visit S.Korea for ground-breaking

Published: 10 Mar 2011 19:20:45 PST

SEOUL, March 11 - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett will travel to South Korea this month to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for a factory run by a unit of an Israeli firm owned by his Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N>, event organizers said.

Prior to his visit, ISCAR Metalworking Companies (IMC), an Israli maker of metal-cutting tools 80 percent owned by Berkshire, plans to sign a deal to invest 100 billion won ($88.85 million) to expand production at its South Korean unit, TaeguTec.

Buffett will arrive in the southeastern city of Daegu at night on March 20 and fly to Japan the next day after attending the ceremony, holding a news conference and having lunch with customers of TaeguTec, TaeguTec said in a statement.

This would be his second visit to South Korea after he traveled to the country in 2007 to meet TaeguTec management.

Berkshire is also a major shareholder in South Korea's POSCO <005490.KS>, the world's No.3 steelmaker.

Buffett, 80, who said last month he was looking for a big acquisition, is scheduled to speak March 22 in Japan at the opening of a new factory of cutting tool maker Tungaloy Corp, also owned by IMC. [ID:nTOE72603N]