Medline is officially back in the public markets. On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, the Northfield, Illinois-based medical supply powerhouse begins trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker MDLN, following an upsized initial public offering that raised about $6.26 billion—the largest global IPO of 2025. [1]
For Wall Street, the scale of the deal matters. For hospitals and health systems, the company’s name is already familiar: Medline sits deep inside the day-to-day plumbing of healthcare, supplying everything from surgical kits and gloves to protective apparel and logistics services. The IPO is also a major moment for the private-equity giants that bought into Medline in 2021—and for an IPO market that has spent years waiting for big, durable businesses to return in size. [2]
Medline IPO price, ticker, and deal size: the numbers driving today’s debut
Medline priced its IPO at $29.00 per share, selling 216,034,482 shares in an offering that was increased from earlier plans—an upsizing that signaled strong institutional demand heading into the listing. [3]
A few key details investors are watching as MDLN hits the tape:
- IPO price: $29.00 per share [4]
- Shares sold: 216,034,482 [5]
- Gross proceeds raised: about $6.26 billion [6]
- Underwriters’ option (greenshoe): up to 32,405,172 additional shares for 30 days [7]
- Trading venue and ticker: Nasdaq Global Select Market, MDLN [8]
IPO-focused trackers put Medline’s implied market value at roughly $39 billion at pricing (a figure that can vary depending on which fully diluted share count is used). [9]
Where the IPO money goes: debt paydown, liquidity, and the private-equity unwind
Unlike many headline IPOs of past cycles, Medline’s offering is structured around something investors often prefer: deleveraging and a clearer balance-sheet story.
Medline said it intends to use the proceeds (net of underwriting discounts) from the issuance of 179,000,000 shares to repay outstanding debt under its senior secured term loan facilities, with the remainder for general corporate purposes and offering expenses. [10]
The company also disclosed that proceeds from the issuance of 37,034,482 shares—and from any shares issued if underwriters exercise their option—are intended to purchase or redeem an equivalent number of equity interests from certain pre-IPO owners, effectively creating liquidity for existing holders through the IPO process. [11]
Independent IPO coverage has emphasized just how debt-heavy the post-buyout capital structure became and how central debt reduction is to the listing narrative. IPOScoop reported that Medline planned to use most of the IPO proceeds to repay about $4 billion in debt, and placed total debt at roughly $16.8 billion as of September 27, 2025. [12]
The offering is expected to close on December 18, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. [13]
What Medline actually does: the “essential infrastructure” business behind hospital care
Medline’s business is often described in simple terms—“medical supplies”—but the operational footprint is closer to a healthcare supply-chain engine.
In its IPO materials and related coverage, Medline is described as a major manufacturer and distributor of medical-surgical products, and a provider of supply chain solutions that serve hospitals and other sites of care. [14]
Recent IPO research summaries add texture:
- Medline supplies roughly 335,000 items across two segments: Medline Brand (manufactured/private label) and Supply Chain Solutions (third-party distribution plus logistics and procurement services). [15]
- It operates a distribution network that includes 69 facilities and an owned fleet of 2,000+ trucks, enabling next-day delivery to about 95% of U.S. customers, according to IPO-focused reporting. [16]
- The company employs more than 43,000 people worldwide and operates in more than 100 countries, per Medline’s own announcement. [17]
That operational scale helps explain why the Medline IPO is being treated less like a speculative growth bet and more like a referendum on whether public investors want mature, cash-generative, “real economy” businesses back in the IPO lane.
Financial snapshot: profitability, scale, and steady growth
Medline’s profile is unusual for a mega-IPO: it is not pitching a distant profitability target—it is pitching a track record.
Reuters reported that Medline posted net income of $977 million on net sales of $20.6 billion in the nine months ended September 27, 2025, compared with $911 million in net income on $18.7 billion in net sales a year earlier. [18]
Reuters also noted that Medline has posted net sales growth every year since its inception, including through major economic cycles and the COVID-19 pandemic—one reason some analysts view the business as easier to underwrite than the typical “story stock” IPO. [19]
The ownership story: Blackstone, Carlyle, Hellman & Friedman—and the Mills family
Medline’s IPO is not just a listing; it is the next chapter in a long ownership arc.
- Medline was founded in 1966 by brothers Jon and Jim Mills in the Chicago-area suburb of Northfield, Illinois. [20]
- In 2021, Medline was acquired by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman in one of the largest private-equity deals, according to Reuters. [21]
That private-equity angle is central to why the market cares about this offering. A $6.26 billion raise—particularly one positioned as a debt-reduction story—offers a template for other sponsor-backed companies that have delayed IPOs while waiting for conditions to improve.
Renaissance Capital also reported that a group of cornerstone investors (including large asset managers) indicated interest in a significant slice of the deal, and that members of the founding Mills family indicated interest in buying shares as well—details that tend to reinforce investor confidence going into a debut. [22]
Tariffs, costs, and the risk factor investors keep circling
Even “boring” businesses have real-world risk, and Medline’s risk discussion is arriving at a time when trade policy is a dominant theme across markets.
Reuters reported that Medline expects a $150 million to $200 million hit from tariffs to income before taxes in fiscal 2026. [23]
That number matters because Medline’s value proposition to hospitals is tightly tied to reliability and cost—two areas that get pressured when tariffs raise the price of imported inputs or disrupt sourcing. It also matters because the IPO itself is being framed as a confidence vote in 2025’s reopening IPO window, despite macro uncertainty.
Why this IPO is a big deal for the 2025 market—and a signal for 2026
Medline’s deal size places it at the top of the year’s global IPO leaderboard. Reuters reported that before Medline’s raise, the year’s biggest IPO was CATL’s $5.3 billion Hong Kong offering in May (based on LSEG data). [24]
It also lands at a moment when U.S. listings have been navigating a complicated backdrop. Reuters described 2025 IPO activity as resilient despite market volatility earlier in the year and broader disruptions, including a historically long U.S. government shutdown. [25]
And Medline is not debuting in isolation. Reuters pointed to other large U.S. IPOs in 2025, including Venture Global, Klarna, CoreWeave, and Circle. [26]
The bigger narrative, though, is what comes next. Reuters reported that bankers and market watchers are looking to 2026 for an even stronger pipeline, with high-profile companies such as SpaceX discussed as potential candidates, alongside other major private firms. [27]
Importantly for the private markets, Reuters also noted rising pressure on sponsors to return cash to investors—highlighting confidential IPO filings by Blackstone-backed Copeland and Hellman & Friedman-backed Caliber as examples of what may follow. [28]
What happens now: the real test begins with MDLN trading
With pricing complete and the Nasdaq bell-ringing scheduled in Times Square, the question shifts from “Can Medline get this deal done?” to “How does the market value a scaled healthcare supply-chain business in real time?”
Today’s debut will be watched for a few signals:
- Liquidity and stabilization: How the stock trades relative to the $29 IPO price as institutions build positions. [29]
- Execution on debt reduction: Whether the company’s post-IPO leverage trajectory aligns with the market’s expectations for a sponsor-backed issuer. [30]
- Margin durability under tariff pressure: Whether Medline can offset trade-related costs through sourcing shifts, pricing, or operational efficiencies. [31]
- Sponsor playbook momentum: Whether Medline’s scale and reception encourage more private-equity portfolio companies to move from “watching the window” to launching IPOs. [32]
One thing is already clear: Medline’s return to public markets is being treated as more than a single-company milestone. It is a major stress test of whether the market is ready to embrace large, operationally essential companies again—and whether 2026 could finally become the year the IPO pipeline truly unclogs. [33]
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. newsroom.medline.com, 4. newsroom.medline.com, 5. newsroom.medline.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. newsroom.medline.com, 8. newsroom.medline.com, 9. www.iposcoop.com, 10. newsroom.medline.com, 11. newsroom.medline.com, 12. www.iposcoop.com, 13. newsroom.medline.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.renaissancecapital.com, 16. www.iposcoop.com, 17. newsroom.medline.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.renaissancecapital.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. newsroom.medline.com, 30. newsroom.medline.com, 31. www.reuters.com, 32. www.reuters.com, 33. www.reuters.com
