Oracle acquires e-health records firm Cerner for $28.3 billion

Cloud major Oracle has acquired electronic healthcare records firm Cerner for approximately $28.3 billion.

Cerner is a leading provider of digital information systems used within hospitals and health systems to enable medical professionals to deliver better healthcare to individual patients and communities.

"Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with better information, enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes," said Larry Ellison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Oracle.

"This new generation of medical information systems promises to lower the administrative workload burdening our medical professionals, improve patient privacy and outcomes, and lower overall healthcare costs," he said in a statement late Monday.

The transaction, at $95.00 per share, is expected to close in calendar year 2022.

"Healthcare is the largest and most important vertical market in the world -- $3.8 trillion last year in the US alone. Cerner will be a huge additional revenue growth engine for years to come as we expand its business into many more countries throughout the world," said Safra Catz, CEO, Oracle.

According to David Feinberg, President and CEO, Cerner, joining Oracle as a dedicated `Industry Business Unit` provides an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate "our work modernising electronic health records (EHR), improving the caregiver experience, and enabling more connected, high-quality and efficient patient care".