Kirin Brewery Co., Kirin Beverage Corp. and Yakult Honsha Co. said Wednesday they agreed to form a business alliance to jointly develop health foods and drinks.
As part of the deal, the Kirin group and Yakult acquired 5 billion yen of each other's shares.
The major brewery and the lactic-drink maker said they expect the tieup will allow them to exploit each other's strength to develop and market the health food and drink field, projected to grow rapidly in the near future.
In other food and drink businesses, the two groups also agreed to use each other's production and distribution systems, an addition to their current alliance in vending machine operations.
They also said some Kirin health-related products will be handled by "Yakult ladies," troops of saleswomen with pushcarts and bicycles who make daily visits to homes and offices.