Oct 6 (Reuters) - Customer survey software maker

Qualtrics, owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, has agreed

to buy healthcare market research company Press Ganey Forsta for

$6.75 billion, including debt, the Financial Times reported on

Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The companies are betting that the combination of Qualtrics'

artificial intelligence technologies with Press Ganey's reach in

the healthcare industry will give rise to new AI-powered tools

and services, the report said, adding the deal is set to be

announced later on Monday.

The merger is also meant to bolster Press Ganey's technology

offerings as large tech giants such as Palantir ( PLTR ) and

Oracle expand into healthcare, the report said, citing

a person briefed on the matter.

U.S.-based Qualtrics provides tools for measuring and

analyzing customer, employee, product and brand experiences. It

serves large enterprises, governments and universities, with

clients including Microsoft ( MSFT ), BMW, and the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Qualtrics did not immediately respond to a Reuters request

for comment.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)