Medline—the mammoth medical device distributor that has largely worked behind the scenes and out of the headlines to stock hospitals and operating rooms—is now taking center stage with one of the largest IPOs ever in the sector and the biggest haul of the year.
The company's CEO, Jim Boyle, rang the Nasdaq’s opening bell today to mark Medline's first day of trading under the ticker "MDLN," after the device distributor raised an eye-watering $6.26 billion in its public debut.
Medline’s upsized IPO sold more than 216 million shares set at $29 apiece—a price near the top of its initial range pegged between $26 and $30, but far more shares than its previous pitch last week of 179 million. The company’s underwriters have also been granted a 30-day option to pick up an additional 32.4 million shares in class A common stock.
Now carrying a market value north of $38 billion, the Northfield, Illinois-headquartered outfit is the country’s largest provider of medical-surgical tools, delivering supply chain solutions across all care settings and boasting a catalog of more than 335,000 products—including its own branded equipment as well as devices developed by other medtechs through distribution deals.
That’s all backed up by 26 North American production sites, 69 global distribution centers and over 43,000 employees, plus a fleet of more than 2,000 delivery trucks that offer next-day delivery to about 95% of its U.S. customers. The company estimates that, since its founding as a family business in 1966, it has logged a compounded annual growth rate of about 18% over the past 50 years.
“Healthcare is facing a crisis of complexity,” Boyle said at the Nasdaq bell ringing. “Here at Medline, we strive to be the partner of choice to help healthcare providers navigate these challenges.”
In 2021, Medline was bought by a consortium of private equity firms via a $34 billion leveraged buyout led by The Carlyle Group, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman. Afterward, the company’s founding Mills family held onto about a quarter of its ownership, serving as its single-largest shareholder.
The enterprise—which previously went public for a brief stint in the 1970s before returning to the Mills’ ownership—had reportedly considered heading to Wall Street earlier this year, but paused its plans following the import tariffs handed down by the Trump administration.
In its prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Medline outlined tariff costs of between $325 million and $375 million for the 2025 fiscal year, and an estimated impact of $150 million to $200 million in fiscal 2026.
For the first nine months of this calendar year, it logged sales of $20.6 billion and a net income of $1 billion, following $25.5 billion in revenue for the 2024 calendar.