A subsidiary of Japanese trading house Itochu will take over SunMed Group Holdings¡¯ Japan sales operations, as the U.S. medical equipment company struggles to remain profitable in the country due to the weak yen and inflationary pressure.
Itochu¡¯s unit Century Medical?will assume sales, delivery, inventory management and other logistics of SunMed items including closed suction catheters in Japan, according to several people familiar with the matter who declined to be named as the decision is not yet official. Michigan-based SunMed has done business in Japan as AirLife since a 2023 rebrand.
No capital movement will be involved in the transaction, which is expected to be completed as soon as early July, the people said. A spokesperson for AirLife confirmed the transaction without elaborating on the details. Itochu declined to comment.
The move comes as Japan¡¯s trading houses cement healthcare as a key pillar of their businesses, placing it alongside traditional mainstays such as oil, gas and metals. Mitsui & Co. is the largest shareholder in IHH Healthcare, which operates hospitals across Asia, while Mitsubishi acquired a minority stake in Singapore-based healthcare provider Fullerton Health in 2025.
Trading houses are betting that they are better positioned to overcome challenges posed by Japan¡¯s unique medical logistics system, as well as the rapid depreciation of the yen. Around 80% of public healthcare institutions reported losses in fiscal 2024, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
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