Mitsui & Co plans to accelerate its expansion into healthcare and nutrition using IHH Healthcare Bhd, the Japanese trading house's CEO said on Friday, without addressing a media report that it plans to take the Malayasian health group private.
"What we are targeting in healthcare and nutrition areas in the long term is quite large," Mitsui CEO Kenichi Hori said during an analyst call on Friday, adding that Mitsui will use IHH and other assets to achieve that aim.Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Mitsui, which owns a 32.9per cent stake in IHH Healthcare worth around US$12 billion, plans to take IHH private.
Mitsui, which has large exposures to commodities and energy and last week reported a 14 percent drop in net profit for the year through March, is expanding into healthcare as the world is gripped by the worst health crisis in a century.