Medline Stock Soars 41% After Biggest IPO Since 2021

Medline sells hundreds of thousands of different medical supplies to hospitals and other health providers. (Courtesy Medline)

The company that makes the baby blankets used to wrap newborns in delivery wards across the U.S. just became one of the largest initial public offerings in years, and the stock is in hot demand.

Medline, which calls itself the largest medical-surgical products provider, sells hundreds of thousands of different medical supplies to hospitals and other health providers. On Tuesday night it priced its IPO at $29 a share, raising $6.26 billion and giving the company a market value of $54.5 billion.

The shares opened for trading on the Nasdaq this afternoon at $35 and closed at $41, up 41.4% from the IPO price. The stock was falling in the Thursday premarket – down 3.7%.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1MedlineStock ticker: MDLNSource: FactSetAs of Dec. 17, 4 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1IPO priceDec. 172 p.m.3 p.m.4 p.m.28303234363840$42

Only three U.S. IPOs have grossed $5 billion in the past five years, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Market Data. Electric vehicle maker Rivian raised $13.5 billion in November 2021.

Medline is majority owned by a private-equity partnership made up of funds managed by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, which bought the company from its founding family in a major leveraged buyout deal in 2021.

Ahead of the IPO, Medline said in a filing that it has received indications of interest in purchasing up to $2.4 billion worth of its shares from funds or accounts managed by Durable Capital Partners, Janus Henderson Investors, Viking Global Investors, and Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund, among others. Medline’s founding family, which still retains some ownership, says it will buy up to $250 million in shares, according to Medline.

The question is how much appetite there will be for the rest of the shares that Medline plans to sell. The company says it has clocked more than 50 years of consecutive annual net sales growth, and that it expects net sales growth to continue in the high-single digits. Net sales were 10.3% higher in the first nine months of 2025 than in the first nine months of 2024, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were up 4.4% over the same period.

Still, Medline’s period of private-equity ownership has left it with a significant debt burden. As of late September, it had net debt of $15 billion, and a net debt to Ebitda ratio of 4.5. There are no healthcare companies in the S&P 500 with a net debt to Ebitda ratio of more than 3.8, according to FactSet.

Medline plans to pay down debt with the proceeds of the IPO. In a securities filing, it said its total debt would be $12.8 billion after the IPO, down from $16.8 billion. It said in a roadshow presentation that it’s targeting a net debt to Ebitda ratio target of less than 3.

Medline has more than 43,000 employees. Half of its revenues come from Medline-branded products, while the other half come from products made by third-party manufacturers. Net sales were $20.6 billion in the first nine months of 2025, and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were $2.7 billion for the same period.

Founded in 1966, Medline company was publicly traded for a short period in the 1970s, but was taken private in 1977. Its sale to the private equity group in 2021 was at the time one of the biggest leveraged buyout transactions since the global financial crisis. The deal valued Medline at more than $30 billion, according to media reports at the time. Announced in June of 2021, the deal came after healthcare products shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the precarity and weakness of the healthcare supply chain.

After the IPO, Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman will each continue to hold 17.4% of the voting power over the company. A vehicle controlled by Medline’s founding family will hold another 17.4%.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com