Medline raises 6.26 billion in the biggest IPO of the year
The company, participated by Blackstone, Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, placed 216 million shares at $29 for a valuation of $39 billion
The biggest IPO of the year came in December and it was Medline. The company, participated by Blackstone, Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, raised $6.26 billion, increasing the size of the deal and setting the share price near the top of the indicated range. A total of 216 million shares were placed, against the initial offering of 179 million, at $29 each in the range of $26 to $30. The implied valuation is about $39 billion, based on the number of shares indicated in the documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The deal surpasses the previous largest listing of the year, the $5.26 billion listing in Hong Kong of Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, and also Venture Global's $1.75 billion offering in January, which had so far been the largest in the US in 2025.
Transaction details
The deal is also the largest IPO of a predominantly private equity-controlled company, surpassing the $5.1 billion listing of Lineage Inc. last year, backed by Bay Grove Capital. And Wall Street is looking to private equity funds as a potential driver for more new listings next year, by bringing a significant portion of their portfolios to the stock market.
The three private equity firms had taken over the company, which manufactures and distributes medical supplies such as gloves, gowns and examination couches used by hospitals and doctors, in a $34 billion deal in 2021 to acquire a controlling stake in the group, in one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever. It is now worth $5 billion more than four years ago.
Medline had confidentially filed its listing documents with the US SEC late last year, but tariffs-related uncertainty delayed plans to go public in the first half of 2025. The US government shutdown in the second half of the year also further complicated preparations, with the public filing of the documents taking place during the dispute, which ended on 12 November.
