NZ’s biggest herbal medicine manufacturer has signed a deal to acquire one of the world’s largest suppliers of herbal medicine.

The deal, worth about $1 billion, will see the Acupuncture International Group acquire the company from Chinese private equity firm, Acuricom.

Acuris will be owned by Chinese company China Pharmaceutical Group, which has a market capitalisation of about $US15 billion ($1.25 billion).

It has already acquired other large firms including Chinese drugmaker Tianjin Pharmaceuticals and Chinese pharma company Biocon.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese practice used to treat a range of ailments including coughs, colds and headaches.

The company says it has over a million customers in Australia and New Zealand.

The Acupuncture company has about 2,500 employees and is based in Auckland, New Zealand, with offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The New Zealand company has been making herbal medicine for more than a century, with founder and chairman, Richard Grafton, also a professor of Chinese medicine.

Acu is based on the Acurica family of herbs and has been around for about 150 years.

Acucas founder Richard Gertin, who is a former head of Acu, said it was important to bring Acu to the global market.

He said Acu was one of only two active companies in the world with a full scale, clinical trial program.

“There are a lot of other companies that are in the same boat,” he said.

“It’s an important market for us, because of the diversity of the market, the sheer volume of patients that we have.”

Acu has been growing its product business by investing in new and developing technologies, including in biofuels, bioremediation and in developing a novel way to extract and purify herbs and herbs products from plants.

Acupressure is an herb treatment that involves injecting liquid into the skin to relax and stimulate the body.

It is not known whether Acu plans to take on the full-scale business of Acupuncture, but Mr Gerten said the company was in discussions with other large companies.

He described Acu as a leader in the field.

“They are definitely on a roll.

“

In the past few years we have had a lot more opportunities to go and meet with our customers,” he told ABC Radio New Zealand’s Breakfast program.