Walgreen sells stake in worksite health business

NEW YORK — Deerfield-based Walgreen said Thursday that it is selling a majority stake in its worksite health center business to the private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners.

The Walgreen business is called Take Care Employer Solutions, and it manages health and wellness and fitness facilities at large employer campuses. As of Feb. 28, it had 366 centers around the country.

The companies did not disclose terms of the deal and Walgreen said it won't have much impact on its annual net income. Walgreen said Water Street is also investing in a second worksite health company, CHS Health Services, and it will combine that company with Take Care. CHS runs about 130 facilities. The name of the new worksite health company has not been determined.

The deal does not include Walgreen Co.'s retail clinics, which were formerly called Take Care. Walgreen changed the name of that business to Healthcare Clinic in 2013.

Walgreen has 8,210 drugstores spread across all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Its shares rose 65 cents to $67 in afternoon trading Thursday. Its shares are up almost 45 percent over the past year.