DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has signed an agreement that gives Water Street Healthcare Partners a majority interest in Take Care Employer Solutions LLC, the Walgreens subsidiary that manages more than 360 work site health centers nationwide.

Water Street, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry, has also signed an agreement to simultaneously invest in CHS Health Services, a premier provider of more than 130 work site health centers.

Take Care Employer Solutions and CHS will now be merged by Water Street to form a new company dedicated to providing work site health centers that improve the cost and quality of employee health care.

The new company will have more than 85 years of combined experience in employer health solutions and will serve more than 200 leading corporations through nearly 500 work site health and wellness centers across the country.

“Walgreens, CHS and Water Street share a goal of maximizing employers’ return on their health care investment,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kang, Walgreens’ senior vice president of health and wellness services and solutions. “This strategic decision to bring together our organizations’ expertise, capabilities and resources to create a leading work site health and wellness company provides us an opportunity to play an even greater role in improving the cost and quality of workforce health care.

“Through our continued involvement in the business and as a preferred strategic partner with Water Street, Walgreens expects to accelerate tighter connections with employers — an important stakeholder in the health care delivery system.”

For his part, CHS chief executive officer Stuart Clark said: “CHS and Take Care Employer Solutions are both deeply committed to finding new ways to drive positive health care outcomes for our clients and their employees. This merger will provide us with a significant opportunity to transform on-site health care.

“Together, we will have the experience and resources to create innovative strategies that will improve patient engagement and positively impact health outcomes.”

Clark will lead the new company as its chief executive officer, with Trent Riley, the divisional vice president of Take Care Employer Solutions Group serving as chief operating officer. Water Street will own a majority interest in the new company, which has yet to be named. Walgreens will own a significant minority interest and have representatives on the new company’s board of directors.

Walgreens stressed that Healthcare Clinic at select Walgreens, an operation with more than 400 in-store clinic locations that formerly operated under the Take Care Clinic name, is not part of this transaction. Comprehensive Health Services Inc. (CHSi), an entity related to CHS that specializes in government contracting health services and logistics, is also not part of this transaction.