CVS nearing $10.5 billion deal for primary-care provider Oak Street Health – WSJ

(Reuters) -CVS Health Corp is close to an agreement to buy primary care center operator Oak Street Health Inc for about $10.5 billion including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The companies are discussing a price of about $39 a share, the newspaper said.

The deal, if it goes through, could be announced as soon as this week, the report added.

Oak Street Health and CVS declined to comment on the report when contacted by Reuters.

Bloomberg News reported last month that CVS was exploring a deal for Oak Street Health.

Oak Street Health runs primary care centers across the United States for recipients of Medicare, the U.S. government insurance program for Americans aged 65 and older, and has private equity firms such as General Atlantic and Newlight Partners among its shareholders.

CVS had also expressed interest in expanding into the primary care space, and was reportedly among the bidders to acquire primary care provider Cano Health before backing out.

(Reporting by Rhea Binoy in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)