Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman to Invest in Medline

Carlyle Press Release:

Medline Industries, Inc., the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies with 2020 revenue of $17.5 billion, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement through which it will receive a majority investment from a partnership comprised of funds managed by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman. Following the close of the transaction, Medline will remain a privately held, family-led company...Medline will continue to be led by the Mills family, who will remain the largest single shareholder.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as lead financial advisor, BDT & Company, LLC acted as financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal advisor to Medline. BoA Securities, Inc., J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Centerview Partners are acting as financial advisors to Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman.

Didn't see a thread on this transaction. Any thoughts/insights from those in the industry?

9 Comments
 

According to Bloomberg, “the transaction is valued at more than $30 billion… The deal is worth as much as $34 billion including debt and would include a $17 billion so-called equity check”

 
Most Helpful

Healthcare has always been an enticing play for PE firms across the spectrum of fund sizes. Medline is more an actual distributor of basic non-differentiated healthcare supplies but has a ton of shelf-space in the area and therefore is a more predictable business given it likely has a healthy degree of contracted business with pre-written margins making for a very attractive PE opportunity. 

Having been in MF healthcare PE on the life sciences side, I can attest to the fact that growing contracted revenue with govt/large pharmacies was a large driver of our investment thesis for several assets. This is obviously slightly less related in the context of Medline but thought it may be worth mentioning especially since the distro space often times has similar end markets albeit completely different pricing dynamics.

 

The sponsors act as a consortium so one "entity"

To be honest MFs like Blackstone don't need a financial advisor, everyone's an ex-banker and sophisticated enough to do a transaction without wasting 200 bps on an advisor. They only need the banks for financing. Typically when a large fund has a financial advisor it's to throw the bank a bone for supporting the fund in previous transactions and just outsource some diligence to IB analysts.

 

Dolores sed nam tenetur vero voluptatem qui. Iste maxime reprehenderit velit voluptate.

Sed commodi a eveniet quibusdam nostrum tempore. Ad omnis ad velit reprehenderit sed aperiam aut. Voluptatibus totam qui possimus corrupti aspernatur voluptate sapiente. Laudantium deserunt aut et dolorum odio.

Iure est et inventore autem nisi aspernatur. Voluptas qui commodi consectetur et nihil. Nostrum consequuntur cumque vero illo. Consequuntur qui molestias minima temporibus iusto unde. Explicabo totam aut ea debitis sed mollitia. Corporis reiciendis assumenda officiis est quo quo.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”