U.S. pharmacy operator CVS Health Corp. announced that is has reached a definitive agreement to purchase Omnicare Inc. in an all debt-financed transaction valued at about $12.7 billion, including the assumption of about $2.3 billion of Omnicare's existing debt obligations. We expect that CVS will fund the purchase price initially through a 364-day bridge loan. Although we expect credit ratios to weaken moderately at CVS Health, we do not believe that there is a material change in overall financial risk, given CVS' demonstrated ability to reduce debt leverage with excess cash flow. We are affirming our 'BBB+/A-2' ratings on CVS Health and 'BBB+' ratings on its senior unsecured debt. The outlook is stable and incorporates our expectation for the successful
