Shares of the American medical supplies giant Medline debuted on the Nasdaq on Wednesday after the biggest global IPO of the year.
The stock opened at $35, up from its IPO price of $29. Shares closed up more than 41% at $41 per share, bringing Medline’s market capitalization to about $54 billion.
The private equity firm sold just over 216 million shares Tuesday, raising $6.26 billion in an expanded offering that capped a good year for new listings and bolstered optimism about the IPO market in 2026. Medline shares will trade under the ticker MDLN.
That IPO price gives Medline a market value of at least $37 billion, based on the shares listed in its regulatory filings.
“Historically, we’ve done very little advertising, very little marketing, and this gives us a way to amplify our voice and really broaden the receptivity of who we are,” Jim Boyle, CEO of Medline, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier Wednesday. “We’re the biggest company you’ve never heard of, and we’re everywhere. And that’s a really interesting thing.”
The U.S. IPO market remained stable despite market volatility in the spring, spurred by President Donald Trump’s drastic tariffs and the longest U.S. government shutdown in history in the fall. Just over 200 IPOs have been priced this year, including Medline, which is the largest U.S. listing since RivienThe $13.7 billion deal closed in November 2021, according to data compiled by CNBC.
But Medline’s IPO is also among the largest private equity-backed listings. Three private equity firms – Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman – acquired a majority stake in the company in 2021 for a whopping $34 billion. At the time, it was the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis.
CEO Jim Boyle celebrates with others as medical supplies giant Medline (MDLN) holds its IPO on the Nasdaq stock market in Times Square in New York, December 17, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Medline, founded in 1966, is based in Northfield, Illinois. The company manufactures and distributes approximately 335,000 different medical and surgical supplies, from gloves, masks and scalpels to wheelchairs. Medline has customers in more than 100 countries and, at the end of 2024, employed more than 43,000 people worldwide.
Medline’s total debt stood at approximately $16.8 billion at the end of September 2025. The company had net sales of $25.5 billion in 2024.
Medline’s previous plans to go public this year were postponed due to uncertainty over tariffs affecting products from Asia. The majority of the company’s products are sourced or manufactured in Asian countries, particularly China.
Medline expects tariffs to fall by $150 million to $200 million on pre-tax profit in fiscal 2026.
The company competes with names like McKesson And Cardinal Health.
— CNBC’s Gina Francolla contributed to this report