UPDATE 3-Walgreen to buy I-trax, launches wellness unit

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ATLANTA, March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. drug store chain Walgreen Co (WAG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it will buy two companies to help expand its health services offerings beyond its retail stores.

The retailer will acquire I-trax DMX.A, which runs health and fitness centers, for $278 million, including the assumption of $18.3 million of debt. The offer amounts to $5.40 a share, or a 37 percent premium over Friday's closing price.

It will also buy privately held Whole Health Management of Cleveland, which provides urgent care, wellness programs and other services. Terms of that deal were not disclosed.

The acquisitions will add at least 2 cents a share to earnings next year and at least 3 cents in 2010, Walgreen said.

Walgreen also created a health and wellness division that will manage health centers and pharmacies at company work sites. After the closing of the acquisitions, it will have more than 500 work site and retail health centers in 40 states, including its own Take Care Health Clinics.

"The story here is growth, and this is only the beginning of our presence in this sector," Walgreen Chief Executive Jeffrey Rein said during a conference call.

He said the acquisitions would position Walgreen to provide health services to large employers at their workplaces that can help lower corporate medical costs. The retailer also said it intended to expand the wellness unit with more acquisitions.

The market for work site health centers and pharmacies includes more than 7,600 corporate campuses of 1,000 employees or more, Rein said.