Prescription drugs distributor Cardinal Health is buying AssuraMed, a mail-order medical supply provider, for $1.94 billion.

AssuraMed, which sells about 30,000 different products through 12 distribution centers, had sales of about $1 billion in 2012. The company, headquartered in Twinsburg, Ohio, operates through two separate companies - Independence Medical and Edgepark Medical Supplies.

The deal will be financed with $1.3 billion in new senior unsecured notes and cash. Cardinal has a commitment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch for a $1.3 billion senior unsecured bridge term loan. The transaction is expected to close by early April.

Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal expects the deal to help it serve patients treated in home settings. Right now the company focuses on provides pharmaceuticals and medical products to pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physicians.

Private equity firms Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC and GS Capital Partners, which were both invested in AssuraMed, agreed to the deal.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Lipton Rosen and Katz advised Cardinal for the deal. Clayton Dubilier & Rice and GS Capital were advised by JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.