US software firm Oracle Corp agreed to acquire medical records company Cerner for $95 per share, or around $28.3 billion in equity value, the companies announced Monday.

The deal, which is expected to close next year, will provide Oracle a stronghold in digital information systems used in hospitals and health systems and an opportunity to integrate its cloud systems into the health care industry.

The companies have "the capacity to transform health care delivery by providing medical professionals with better information—enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes," Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said in a statement.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz noted that health care is the largest and most important vertical market in the world, which was a $3.8 trillion industry last year in the US alone.

Oracle’s stock price was down 4.7% Monday shortly before the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange while Cerner shares were up 0.9%./aa