Medical Supply Giant Medline Is Said to Explore IPO in 2025

(Bloomberg) -- Medline Industries Inc. is exploring an initial public offering that could value the medical supplies giant at as much as $50 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The Northfield, Illinois-based company and its private equity owners are in early-stage talks with banks about a potential listing as soon as the spring of 2025, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. 

Medline, whose $34 billion leveraged buyout by Blackstone Inc., Carlyle Group Inc. and Hellman & Friedman in June 2021 was among the largest of all-time, is the biggest private US manufacturer of medical supplies such as gloves, gowns and exam tables used by hospitals and doctors.

People familiar with the matter said better-than-expected performance at Medline has encouraged the ownership group — which also includes Singaporean wealth fund GIC Pte — to bring forward potential listing plans.

Deliberations are ongoing and no decisions about the size or timing of any IPO have been made, the people said. Any listing would also be subject to wider market conditions, they added.

Representatives for Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman declined to comment. A spokesperson for Medline didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

An IPO of Medline would likely rank among the biggest share sales of 2025, which is already being eyed by other large companies that have pushed back listing plans amid jittery equity markets.

Medline has more than $21 billion in sales, according to its website.

The 2021 buyout of Medline also ranked among the biggest ever of a family-owned business, with billions of dollars of proceeds flowing to Chicago’s Mills family, which is among the world’s wealthiest.

The company’s roots trace to 1910 when A.L. Mills started making butcher’s aprons for Chicago slaughterhouses. His son oversaw the company’s expansion into textiles and his grandsons formed what is known as Medline in 1966.

The next generation held leadership roles at the company until last year when Medline named Jim Boyle and Jim Pigott as chief executive officer and president respectively, succeeding Charlie Mills and his cousin Andy Mills. Members of the family still serve on the company’s board of directors.

The Mills retained a stake of about 20% in the company as part of the 2021 deal, a person familiar with the matter said at the time. Bloomberg News was unable to verify the family’s current ownership stake.

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