Promising diagnosis

7 December 2017 By Robyn Mak Follow @mak_robyn

The U.S. chain is paying $416 mln for 40 pct of peer GuoDa. A sensible shake-up of drug distribution and sales by Beijing is spurring consolidation and giving pharmacies a stronger hand. This deal gives Walgreens market insight and could be a springboard for more investment.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, which owns the biggest drugstore chain in the United States, said on Dec. 6 that it would buy a 40 percent stake in a Chinese pharmacy chain operator, Sinopharm Holding GuoDa Drugstores, for $416 million.

Walgreens will acquire the minority stake from GuoDa's parent, China National Accord Medicines. GuoDa operates and franchises 3,500 retail pharmacies across China.

China National Accord is majority controlled by the state-owned Sinopharm Group, the largest distributor of healthcare products in the country by market share.

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