Boots Pharmacy. Credit: Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has completed the acquisition of a 40% minority stake in Sinopharm Holding GuoDa Drugstores (GuoDa), a retail pharmacy chain in China, following receipt of regulatory approval.

The acquisition was announced in July. This minority stake was acquired through a capital increase worth CNY2.767bn (around $416m), and will account for the interest as an equity method investment.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance executive vice chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said: “We are delighted that we have received regulatory approvals and our investment agreement has now been completed.

“We believe GuoDa holds a strong position in the sector, and as a global pharmacy-led health and beauty enterprise, we are well-positioned to support its further growth ambition.

“We are looking forward to sharing our international best practices and pharmacy expertise.

“We believe there is great potential in working together to play a transforming role in the evolving Chinese retail pharmacy market.”

In December, the deal was signed with China National Accord Medicines, the parent company of GuoDa.

“We believe there is great potential in working together to play a transforming role in the evolving Chinese retail pharmacy market.”

GuoDa operates over 3,800 retail pharmacies in 70 cities across 19 provinces and other regions in China.

It employs around 20,000 people to serve customers.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is a retail pharmacy across the US and Europe. It has a presence in more than 25 countries and employs around 385,000 people. It operates more than 13,200 stores in 11 countries and 390 distribution centres globally.

Among the retail and business brands operated by Walgreens Boots Alliance include Walgreens, Boots and Alliance Healthcare.

Tapping Asian markets is a core strategy of Walgreens Boots Alliance, which forayed into South Korea in 2016 by partnering with Shinsegae Group-owned Emart Company.