By Bailey Lipschultz and Anthony Hughes | Bloomberg
Medline Inc. shares surged 21% in their trading debut Wednesday, after the medical supplier raised $6.26 billion in the year’s biggest initial public offering.
The shares opened at $35 each, versus the IPO price of $29.
Medline, based in Northfield, Ill., manufactures and distributes medical supplies such as gloves, gowns and exam tables used by hospitals and doctors.
It offers a broad portfolio of about 335,000 medical-surgical products and has a supply chain that enables next-day delivery to 95% of US customers, the filings show.
“My aspiration is to be the Costco of health care,” said Jim Boyle, the company’s chief executive officer, before listing similarities to the retailer including fees paid by customers, a robust supply chain, private brands and loyal customer bases.
Medline, which counts Blackstone Inc., Carlyle Group Inc. and Hellman & Friedman among its backers, sold 216 million shares in an upsized offering that priced near the top of the marketed range.
The trading gives the company a market value of about $47 billion, based on the shares listed in its regulatory filings.
The three private equity firms sealed a $34 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in the company in 2021, in one of the largest leveraged buyouts of all time.
The IPO surpassed the previous largest listing this year, Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s $5.26 billion Hong Kong offering. In the US, it’s the biggest IPO since Rivian Automotive Inc.’s $13.7 billion deal in 2021.
Medline’s debut ends the US IPO calendar with a bang, after market disruptions that delayed several long-awaited listings, and sets the stage for a banner 2026 led by a potential blockbuster SpaceX debut that’s set to be the largest on record.
At $6.26 billion, Medline is just the fifth US-listed firm to raise more than $5 billion in an IPO over the past decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The four others are Rivian, Uber Technologies Inc., Lineage Inc. and Arm Holdings Plc.
Medline was founded by brothers Jon and Jim Mills in 1966. The Mills family remained Medline’s largest individual shareholder after the buyout, and members of the family and their affiliates had indicated an interest in buying up to $250 million in shares at the IPO, the filings show. Boyle is the first CEO not related to the Mills family.
The US health care sector was riding a wave of optimism around potential deregulation in President Donald Trump’s second administration. The high hopes dissipated amid tariffs, cuts to Medicaid benefits and continued shake ups at government health agencies. Managed care firms continue to face uncertainty as the open enrollment deadline nears and expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies remain in jeopardy.
Boyle cited challenges facing health care including complexity, cuts to reimbursement and increasing costs, and said the business has the ability to manage those aspects.
“We tend to do better in times of crisis because we are the value player in the marketplace,” he said.
Medline shares trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol MDLN.
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