Medline Seeks Up to $55 Billion Valuation in U.S. IPO
Medline filed for a U.S. initial public offering on December 8, 2025, aiming to raise up to $5.37 billion by selling 179 million shares at $26 to $30. The offering, which would value the company as high as $55.3 billion, is a major test of investor appetite for large scale healthcare listings outside the tech driven momentum of the year.
Medline, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of medical supplies, filed for a U.S. initial public offering on December 8, 2025, signaling the private equity owners intent to monetize part of a 2021 buyout. The company set a proposed range of $26 to $30 a share for 179 million shares, a sale that would raise between about $4.65 billion and $5.37 billion and imply an enterprise valuation as high as $55.3 billion if priced at the top of the range. Medline said it intends to list on Nasdaq under the ticker MDLN, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan named as lead underwriters.
The filing makes the float the potential largest U.S. initial public offering of 2025 if the valuation holds, and it landed amid reports of strong cornerstone investor interest amounting to roughly $2.35 billion. That level of anchor commitments suggests institutional demand for a healthcare company with scale and steady cash flows, and positions the deal as a key test of investor appetite beyond headline grabbing sectors such as artificial intelligence, fintech and crypto which dominated capital markets this year.
Medline is backed by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman Friedman, the private equity consortium that completed the buyout in 2021. The IPO offers those firms a route to de risk a large investment after several years of ownership, while also providing public investors exposure to a business with deep penetration in hospitals, long term care facilities and other health care settings. The company’s prospectus discloses recent financial results and highlights tariff related headwinds that could modestly affect profits in fiscal 2025 and 2026, noting that trade policy and supply chain costs remain variables for margins.
For investors and market watchers the deal raises immediate questions about valuation and comparative multiples. Medical supplies companies have generally traded as stable, lower growth businesses compared with high growth technology peers, so a valuation north of $50 billion will be scrutinized for what it implies about expected future cash flow and cost efficiencies. The substantial cornerstone interest provides a cushion, but the ultimate pricing will reflect how much premium investors place on scale, vertical integration and defensive revenue profiles in an environment of higher for longer interest rates.
Policy and regulatory considerations also have a bearing on the story. Tariff exposure cited in the filing underscores that trade policy can feed through to corporate profitability in health care supply chains, and any shifts in tariff or trade enforcement regimes could materially change cost forecasts. Longer term, the transaction highlights broader trends toward consolidation and private equity ownership in health care infrastructure, alongside a push for supply chain resilience that has become a priority since the pandemic.
The timeline now turns to the road show and final pricing. If Medline lands near the top of its range it will mark a landmark private equity exit and may encourage further large scale offerings from defensive sectors. If market conditions soften, the deal could be scaled back or repriced, offering an early read on investor willingness to value size and stability outside this year’s headline growth stories.
