Key Highlights

● The deal values Option Care at about $5.8 billion including debt.

● The offer is $32.05 a share in cash.

● McKesson will invest about $1.4 billion for just under half.

● Closing is expected in the first half of 2027.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) and Clayton Dubilier & Rice agreed on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to take Option Care Health (NASDAQ:OPCH) private for $32.05 a share in cash, valuing the company at about $5.8 billion including debt.

The structure is the notable part. McKesson will invest about $1.4 billion for a stake of just under half, with an option to acquire the remainder later. Clayton Dubilier & Rice, one of the longest-established US private-equity firms, provides the rest of the backing. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Option Care Health shares rocketed to about $31, just short of the offer price, making it one of the standout health-care gainers on a day when health care was the only S&P 500 sector to fall.

What Option Care does

Option Care Health provides infusion therapy outside hospitals, delivering intravenous medicines to patients at home or in specialized infusion centers. That can include antibiotics, nutrition and specialty drugs for chronic conditions. Treating patients outside hospitals is often less costly for insurers and more convenient for patients, which has made the Business attractive as health systems look to cut expenses.

Why the pairing makes sense

The Partnership lets each side play to its strengths. A private-equity owner can bring financial discipline and a sharper focus on margins away from quarterly public-market scrutiny. A strategic partner such as McKesson, a major pharmaceutical distributor, brings scale, Supply relationships and a natural interest in where specialty drugs are delivered.

The option on the remaining stake gives McKesson a path to full ownership while sharing risk early on. Arrangements like this can also reduce the Debt a private-equity buyer must raise on its own, an advantage at a time of expensive borrowing.

And borrowing is expensive. The Federal Reserve raised its target range to 3.75 to 4.00 in September, and futures markets largely expect another increase in December. The 10-year Treasury Yield touched its highest level since 2002 on Oct. 1 before easing to about 5.28 on Tuesday. Leveraged buyouts depend on debt financing, so bringing in a cash-rich corporate partner helps the math work.

A busy stretch for deals

The Option Care deal came a day after Schneider Electric agreed to buy industrial software company PTC (NASDAQ:PTC) for $205 a share in cash. C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ:CHRW)'s agreed purchase of RXO (NYSE:RXO) and TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)'s deal for blueharbor bank added to a crowded week of transactions.

Investors cheered the broader market as well. The S&P 500 climbed 44.98 points to a record 7,818.93, and the Nasdaq Composite also closed at a record just under 27,600. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 253.38 points to 51,521.28. Health care, however, lagged badly, weighed down by Vaccine makers and life-science tools companies.

When a company goes private, its shares stop trading and it leaves stock indexes. Option Care currently trades on the Nasdaq and sits in mid-cap benchmarks. Its departure, once the deal closes, would prompt index providers to pick replacements, as happens after most acquisitions.

Regulatory Review and Shareholder Vote Set the Timeline

The next steps include regulatory review and a shareholder vote. Investors will watch the gap between Option Care's share price and the $32.05 offer as a gauge of confidence that the deal will close on schedule. They will also look for signs of whether other buyout firms pursue similar partnerships with strategic players in health care. Federal Reserve minutes on Oct. 7 and Inflation data on Oct. 14 could affect financing costs for future deals.