Biggest IPO of the year: shares of medical products giant Medline become available

Preliminary trading in shares of Medline, a medical products manufacturer and distributor, has begun on the Freedom client trading system. This is the largest placement in 2025, writes The Wall Street Journal. Later on Dec. 17, the medical giant's securities will appear on the Nasdaq exchange. To participate, click on the ticker MDLN.

Medline raised $6.26 billion in an IPO on the Nasdaq exchange, offering 216 million shares at $29 with a stated price range of $26-30. Based on the listing results, the entire company could be valued at more than $50 billion, the WSJ estimated.

It is the largest offering in 2025, the publication said. So far this year's record was held by the May IPO of Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. that raised $5.3 billion. According to Dow Jones Market Data, cited by Barron's, only three listings in the U.S. in the past five years have brought issuers more than $5 billion.

Medline's IPO was also one of the largest in the history of the U.S. healthcare sector, comparable to the launch of Healthcare in 2011. At that time, the company placed 126.2 million common shares at a price of $30 per share, recalls the specialized publication BioXconomy.

Medline intends to use the raised funds, among other things, to repay debt. In documents for regulators, it said that after the offering it will drop from $16.8 billion to $12.8 billion. "The funds raised in the IPO will increase financial flexibility and reduce interest costs, creating a foundation for Medline's continued growth," Fitch Ratings analysts said in a recent report.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities and JPMorgan were the lead organizers of the deal.

In December 2024, the company "confidentially" filed for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but uncertainty around trade duties postponed its entry into the market, Bloomberg writes. The company was expected to list as early as November. However, the public filing of documents took place during the budget crisis of the U.S. government, which derailed the plans for IPOs of many companies.

Medline manufactures and distributes medical supplies, including gloves, gowns, and tables used in hospitals and physician practices. It is one of the largest providers to the U.S. healthcare system, directly competing with companies such as Cardinal Health, McKesson and Owens & Minor. It has more than 43,000 employees worldwide, according to Medline.

In addition to its core business, the company is growing its divisions in Europe and Latin America, as well as working with governments and nonprofit organizations in global healthcare supply chains, Capital.com points out.

Medline was founded by brothers John and Jim Mills in 1966. Its going public was particularly important to the company's private equity owners, BioXconomy emphasizes. In 2021, a consortium led by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman acquired Medline for about $34 billion in an LBO deal, meaning that much of the purchase money was borrowed against the company itself, Bloomberg points out. At the time, it was the largest LBO deal since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 and the fourth largest agreement of this type in history, BioXconomy points out.

The Mills family, which retained its status as the largest individual shareholders in the Medline structure, will control 17.8% of the voting power after the IPO. Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman each received 18% of voting rights.

Although Medline's products - from baby blankets to bandages - are used everywhere, the Mills family has long remained little known to the general public, Forbes elaborates. That changed in 2020 - at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Medline provided medical supplies to nursing homes, pharmacies and about 45% of all U.S. hospital systems, that is, large networks and hospital associations, which played a key role in the fight against the coronavirus.

Forbes adds that since the company was taken over by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman in 2021, its financial performance has improved. In 2024, revenue increased 83% relative to 2019 to $25.5 billion, while profit in 2024 rebounded to $1.2 billion after a small loss two years earlier. For the nine months ended Sept. 27, 2025, Medline reported net income of $977 million on revenue of $20.6 billion.

In documents filed by the company with the regulator, Medline said it estimates its total market at $375 billion a year. This refers to the total amount of potential revenue the company could generate from its products and services.

"We expect our business opportunities in the U.S. to grow over the long term amid factors such as an aging population and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. These trends are expected to lead to increased healthcare services and higher healthcare spending over the long term," the company said in a statement.

Stable revenue and recurring contracts with healthcare providers make Medline attractive to institutional investors focused on sustainable growth, according to Capital.com.

Despite good financial performance, the key risk for the company's business remains a high debt load: net debt is 4.9 times EBITDA, which is noticeably higher than that of its competitors, says Donovan Jones, an analyst at investment company IPO Edge.

Provided that the debt is reduced by about $4 billion after the IPO, Fitch expects to raise Medline's credit rating by several notches at once, given the company's strong business profile, WSJ writes. About a third of Medline's branded products are manufactured by the company itself, which reduces supply chain risks, the agency said.

Freedom Finance analyst Alem Bektemirov estimates that with $16.5 billion in debt on the balance sheet and $952 million in cash, the fair value of the company's shares is about $30.7. This is about 6% higher than the offering price of Medline. Among the main risks for the company he named competition in the market, possible changes in the healthcare sector, as well as delays in the purchase of new products and technologies.

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Freedom clients will be able to get access to Medline shares before the opening of the main exchange session. Trading will begin in the early pre-market format 2-3 hours before the opening of the U.S. exchanges (from 15:30-16:30 Astana time). To participate, click on ticker MDLN.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor