The Bermuda-baseed Orbis Investment Fund owns a 5.25-percent stake in Japan's biggest computer memory chip-maker Elpida Memory.

And yesterday that stake soared in value as Elpida shares rocketed 13 percent on the announcement of merger talks with Taiwanese chipmakers including Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. The revelation came in a regulatory filing submitted on December 31 to the Japanese Ministry of Finance.

Elpida closed at 585 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after surging as much as 17 percent.

The filing said Orbis bought the 6.8 million Elpida shares "asset management purposes by funds under its control".

Orbis also held a 5.24-percent stake in Itochu Techno-Solutions Corp., the document added.

Itochu shares gained 1.2 percent to 2,195 yen in Tokyo trading yesterday.