Wall Street Banks Prepare $3.1bn Debt Financing for CD&R and McKesson's Option Care Deal

✦ Meridian Analysis

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Barclays are preparing a $3.1 billion debt financing package to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s (CD&R) and McKesson’s acquisition of Option Care Health, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the deal. The facility will combine leveraged loans with secured and unsecured bonds; the exact issuance timetable has not been disclosed, but the acquisition is slated to close in the first half of 2027, after which Option Care will be delisted from Nasdaq. CD&R will hold a 51 % equity stake, while McKesson is contributing roughly $1.4 billion for the remaining 49 % of the enterprise valued at about $5.8 billion. The banks act as arrangers, providing the capital structure that underpins a typical buy‑out financing, while the private‑equity sponsor and the strategic healthcare distributor supply the equity component. The transaction illustrates that large‑scale healthcare buy‑outs remain viable even as U.S. high‑yield bond sales fell 18 % year‑on‑year in October and leveraged loan issuance slipped more than 10 %, according to market data cited in the source article. By assembling a mixed‑instrument package, the banks are probing investor appetite for acquisition‑related debt in a market that has shown limited issuance activity. Deal professionals will be looking for the undisclosed terms of the financing – pricing, leverage ratios, covenant structure and the identity of financial advisers – as well as the timeline for regulatory clearances and the exact closing date. These details will shape the final risk profile of the transaction and determine how the financing fits within the banks’ broader high‑yield and leveraged‑loan pipelines.

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