Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. this morning announced that it would buy Boron, LePore & Associates Inc., a provider of promotional, marketing and educational information for the pharmaceutical industry, for more than $190 million.

Cardinal, based in Dublin, Ohio, said it will make a cash tender offer of $16 a share for Boron, LePore; Boron's shares closed at $13.33 on Tuesday on Nasdaq. As of the first quarter, Boron, LePore had about 12.1 million shares outstanding.

Cardinal said Wayne, New Jersey-based Boron, which had 2001 revenue of $210 million, should help drugmakers make informed product development decisions and provide more cross-selling opportunities to Cardinal, which also provides manufacturing services for drug makers.

Cardinal said the deal would help it provide a full spectrum of services for biotechnology and smaller pharmaceutical companies.

The deal is expected to be completed in Cardinal Health's first quarter of fiscal 2003 and would be subject to the receipt of at least 50.1 percent of Boron's fully diluted shares in the tender, to regulatory clearances and to other customary conditions.