Report: CVS to purchase Oak Street Health for $10.5B

PROVIDENCE – CVS Health Corp. is close to an agreement to purchase primary care company Oak Street Health for around $10.5 billion including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The companies are discussing a price of $39 per share, according to the Journal report. The deal could be announced as early as this week.

T.J. Crawford, vice president of external affairs for CVS Health Corp., declined comment. Oak Street Health representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Oak Street Health is a Medicare-based primary care provider with 169 centers across the country that provide care for more than 159,000 patients. The company has four locations in Rhode Island – two in Providence, one in Warwick and one in Woonsocket.

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Private equity firms General Atlantic and Newlight Partners own approximately 39% of the publicly traded company.

Bloomberg News reported on Jan. 9 CVS was exploring an acquisition of Oak Street Health for more than $10 million.

CVS has been expanding its health care footprint since acquiring health insurance company Aetna in 2018 for $69 billion.

On Sept. 5, CVS Health Corp. announced it was purchasing Signify Health for $8 billion. The technology company sends doctors or other care providers to the homes of patients to assess how they are doing and what help they might need, That deal is expected to close in early 2023, according to Bloomberg News.

CVS CEO Karen Lynch told analysts at the time that acquiring Signify is a way for CVS Health Corp. to provide more help to patients where and when they want it.

“The home is increasingly part of that choice,” she told The Associated Press, noting that the deal gives CVS a foundation to expand further into home health care.

Bloomberg News reported on Oct. 7 that CVS held talks to buy Miami-based health care provider Cano Health. CVS backed out of those talks two weeks later.