Russell Index Today Undergoes Major Rebalancing: NVIDIA Takes the Lead, SpaceX Included for the First Time, Pension Fund Quarter-End Rebalancing May Trigger Late Trading Volatility

In the fifth paragraph, a quote from analyst Sahil Pandey was added. Reuters, October 5 - According to the Financial Times, citing informed sources, pharmaceutical distributor McKesson (MCK.N) and private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice are about to reach an acquisition agreement to purchase infusion service provider Option Care Health, with the deal valued (including debt) at over 5 billions USD. After the report was published, Option Care's share price rose by 21% in after-hours trading. The report stated that the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, but negotiations could still fall through. This potential acquisition would be McKesson’s latest move in expanding its healthcare services portfolio. In August this year, the company agreed to acquire Precision Medicine Group for about 2.25 billions USD (link), as part of its effort over the years to strengthen high-growth business sectors. Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said the “strategic logic” of the deal makes sense, as it would expand McKesson’s business from physician offices to care settings in the home and alternative sites. Option Care provides infusion services that allow patients to receive intravenous treatments at home or other outpatient settings, eliminating the need to go to the hospital. McKesson has previously been restructuring its business portfolio by divesting non-core assets and investing in fields such as oncology and specialty care (link). Driven by the growth of its specialty distribution business and contributions from acquisitions, revenue for its oncology and multi-specialty business segment grew by 33% in the latest fiscal quarter. McKesson declined to comment, while CD&R and Option Care did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment regarding the report. (For non-English speakers' convenience, Reuters offers automated machine translations of its reports in several languages. As there may be mistakes in the automated translations or some context may not be included, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of the automated translation text, which is provided solely for readers’ convenience. Reuters bears no responsibility for any damages or losses caused by the use of automated translation functions.)

Reuters, October 5 - Centalion Group announced on Monday that it has acquired upstream and midstream natural gas assets in the Haynesville region of Texas and Louisiana from Texas-based private shale company Silver Hill Energy Partners. The commodities trader, formerly known as Gunvor, rebranded as Centalion Group last week (link), and stated plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Cyprus to Singapore. A spokesperson for Centalion Group said the Haynesville platform, composed of Post Oak and Silver Hill assets, has an enterprise value of approximately $2 billion. In August, Reuters cited sources stating that Centalion Group (link) was negotiating the acquisition of Silver Hill's assets, with a deal valued between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion. The assets currently produce about 300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas (MMcfd), and the portfolio includes approximately 72,000 net acres in the Haynesville and Bossier development areas. "Our consideration was to establish operations in this basin, a hub for both domestic and export markets, in order to seize this option and create value from it," the spokesperson added. (To assist non-English speakers, Reuters offers automated translation of its reports into several other languages. Due to possible errors in automated translations or missing required context, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of automated translation texts, and provides them solely for readers' convenience. Reuters is not liable for any damages or losses resulting from the use of the automated translation feature.)

Updates headline, adds details in paragraphs 2-10 By Mike Scarcella WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - McDonald's MCD.N has been sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food company illegally coordinates menu prices across its franchises and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, said McDonald’s violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data. Reuters reported last week that McDonald’s pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across its nearly 14,000 restaurants. The lawsuit cited the Reuters article, which said other fast-food companies are also turning to AI to help with pricing and other operations. "Independent businesses must set their prices independently," the lawsuit said. McDonald’s, in a statement on Monday, called the allegations speculative and uninformed. "AI does not set the price of a Big Mac or any other menu item," the company said. It said franchisees make their own pricing decisions, and that the use of pricing recommendation tools and analytics is widespread across industries. US plaintiffs have filed a wave of class actions in recent years alleging that companies used algorithms or AI to illegally coordinate prices for hotel rooms, apartment rentals and other purchases. Lark Turner, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said in a statement, that McDonald's is "leveraging its troves of data and its franchised system to nickel-and-dime consumers down to the last French fry." The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, is seeking to represent a class of potentially millions of McDonald's customers, the lawsuit said. (Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Rod Nickel)