Aug 12 (Reuters) - Cardinal Health ( CAH ) said on

Tuesday its unit would buy Solaris Health and the company would

provide about $1.9 billion in cash for the deal, as the drug

distributor looks to expand its specialty business.

Cardinal's specialty business includes costly medicines to

treat complex conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid

arthritis, and the deal gives it access to a network of

community urologists spread across 14 states.

Solaris Health provides administrative and management

support services to healthcare providers in the urological

field.

Cardinal said it would buy Solaris from private equity firm

Lee Equity Partners and the deal is expected to close by the end

of the year.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)