UPDATE 2-Mitsubishi to tap China drug wholesale market
* Japan firms sign cooperative agreement with Sinopharm * Mitsubishi, Medipal to take 39 pct of Sinopharm unit (Recasts after Mitsubishi confirmation, adds background)
TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T) and drug wholesaler Medipal Holdings Corp (7459.T) aim to tap China's rapidly growing drug market by teaming up with Sinopharm Group (1099.HK), China's largest drug distributor.
China's drug market has been posting double-digit growth in the past five years and is now estimated to be worth around 4 trillion yen a year, Mitsubishi said.
Mitsubishi said on Thursday that the three companies had signed a comprehensive agreement to cooperate in the areas of distribution of drugs and medical equipment, hospital management, and development of a drug store chain, among others.
The two Japanese companies will also take a combined stake of 39 percent in Sinopharm's unit in Beijing, Sinopharm Medicine Holding Beijing Huahong Co, for about 2.8 billion yen ($31.4 million) by the end of the month.
Medipal is Japan's biggest drug distributor.
Mitsubishi Corp is Japan's biggest trading house with large stakes in global mining assets like oil, coal and copper. It is also engaged in a range of businesses including hospital management services in Japan. ($1=89.32 Yen) (Reporting by Yuko Inoue, Taiga Uranaka in Tokyo and Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
