Amazon strikes $3.5 billion deal for One Medical in long march into U.S. healthcare

FILE PHOTO: An Amazon logo is pictured at a logistics centre in Mannheim, Germany, September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc on Thursday agreed to buy primary care provider One Medical for $3.49 billion, expanding the e-commerce giant's virtual healthcare and adding brick-and-mortar doctors' offices for the first time.

The all-cash deal would combine two relatively small players as Amazon continues a years-long march into U.S. healthcare, seeking to grow at a faster pace.