McKesson Corp. and private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice said they will acquire Option Care Health Inc. at an enterprise value near $5.8 billion. The price tag is $32.05 per share, a 37% premium to Monday's close. After a Financial Times report on the talks hit overnight, Option Care stock popped 33% when trading opened on Tuesday.
McKesson will put in about $1.4 billion for roughly 49% ownership. CD&R will be the controlling shareholder, and the agreement includes a structure that could allow McKesson to purchase CD&R's stake in the future.
Option Care will keep its existing management team in place, with CD&R holding the majority interest. McKesson, which already runs medical clinics and infusion services, is folding this into a broader push into specialty care.
"The transaction would further expand McKesson's specialty services platform, adding home and outpatient infusion capabilities aligned with its focus on delivering complex therapies in lower-cost community settings," Elizabeth Anderson of Evercore ISI wrote in a client note. "Strategically, while the initial earnings contribution is modest, the transaction broadens McKesson's specialty care footprint and creates an opportunity to increase its ownership over time."
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Across the US, Option Care stands as the biggest standalone provider of infusion care, treating people in their homes and at community infusion centers; it delivers medications, fluids, and nutrients to address conditions such as cancer and autoimmune diseases, with care offered both in patients' homes and at neighborhood infusion sites. In 2025, it cared for over 315,000 patients.
McKesson Chief Executive Officer Brian Tyler said the deal fits the company's long-term strategy to increase access as demand grows for specialty and rare-disease therapies that require complex infusions. Many patients still receive infusions in hospitals or large medical centers, which can add cost and time. Option Care provides alternatives in lower-cost community sites or at home.
Drug distributors have been moving into clinic operations to gain greater control over the supply chain and build more vertically integrated models, according to Drug Channels Institute. The economics are favorable as well: service businesses typically yield higher margins than pure drug distribution. McKesson's oncology and multispecialty division has a long-term adjusted operating profit growth goal of 13% to 16%, while the North American pharmaceutical distribution segment is pegged at 5% to 8%.
For your wallet, the signal is simple: as more treatment shifts outside hospitals, the winners in specialty medicine may look a lot more like service operators than pure distributors.
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