Cardinal Health to buy AssuraMed for about $2 B

(AP) Cardinal Health is spending about $2 billion to acquire the medical supplier AssuraMed to extend its reach to patients receiving care at home.

The Dublin, Ohio, company said Thursday that AssuraMed serves more than a million patients and generated sales of about $1 billion in 2012. It says the privately held company is a natural extension of its businesses.

Cardinal Health Inc. will pay $2.07 billion, or $1.94 billion not counting tax benefits it will receive from the deal. It will pay for the acquisition using $1.3 billion in new senior unsecured notes and cash.

Cardinal expects the deal to close in April.