As 2025 draws to a close, medical equipment supplier Medline Industries is expected to carry out the largest IPO of the year , expanding its initial proposal by discussing the possibility of a $7 billion offering.
According to the Financial Times (FT) , the company, whose main investors since 2021 have been Blackstone , Carlyle , and Hellman & Friedman, originally planned to raise approximately US$5.4 billion, pricing the shares at US$30, which would already make the operation the largest of the year.
According to sources cited by the newspaper, the company is considering raising the final amount to US$7 billion, but no decision has been made.
Regardless of the price, the IPO is on track to surpass the $5.3 billion offering made by Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology in May.
The operation is being closely watched on Wall Street, seen as a test for the private equity industry, which in recent years has faced difficulties in selling assets and returning funds to its investors.
The deal is particularly important for Medline's three investors, given the stake they've set. The group acquired a majority stake in the company for US$34 billion, the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis.
A significant portion of the funds will be used to reduce the company's leverage, currently at 3.25 times. Over the first nine months of the year, Medline reported a net profit of US$977 million, a 7.2% increase compared to the previous year. Revenue rose 10% to US$20.6 billion.
Another point to watch will be investor interest in businesses affected by President Donald Trump 's import tariffs. Many products distributed by Medline, such as gloves and wheelchairs, are manufactured in countries impacted by the new US trade policies, such as Vietnam, China, Japan, and Mexico .
Medline had planned to go public in early 2025, but backed down after the announcement of the fees, which caused intense market volatility. The company filed a confidential IPO request in December of last year.
Despite the market being open for IPOs in the US, several companies that debuted in 2025 are facing difficulties. Figma , a design software company, raised $1.2 billion in July, valuing it at nearly $60 billion, but its shares have since fallen by almost 70%.
CoreWeave , the AI-powered data center company that went public in March, lost $33 billion in market value in six weeks, valuing itself at $36 billion, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) .
