Private equity giants Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman have won PE Hub's Overall Deal of the Year Award for 2025 with their landmark $7.2 billion IPO of Medline Industries. The trio's public debut of the medical supplies giant marked the largest private equity-backed IPO in history and the biggest healthcare IPO ever, achieving a $65 billion valuation despite challenging market conditions.

Getting the deal across the finish line proved challenging as M&A activity stalled amid tariff turmoil in April 2024. However, confidence gradually returned, culminating in Medline's December 17 listing that was 12x oversubscribed. The three firms had acquired Medline in 2021 for $34 billion when it was a family-owned company considering succession planning. They invested heavily in automation, robotics, and strategic add-ons, including a $905 million carve-out of Ecolab's surgical products group.

Under PE ownership, Medline achieved 9% annualized revenue growth through a combination of organic investments in digitization and customer service, plus eight strategic acquisitions. The company's extensive product catalog of 350,000 items and robust manufacturing and distribution network created a defensible market position. The successful IPO demonstrates renewed confidence in the private equity exit market and validates the consortium's long-term growth strategy.