Medline (MDLN) Risk Analysis

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the merger or acquisition of our company more difficult without the approval of our Board of Directors. Among other things, these provisions: - would allow us to authorize the issuance of shares of one or more series of preferred stock, including in connection with a stockholder rights plan, financing transactions or otherwise, the terms of which series may be established and the shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval, and which terms may include super voting rights, special approval rights, special or preferential rights to dividends or distributions upon a liquidation, dissolution or winding up, conversion rights, redemption rights, or other rights, powers, or preferences prior or superior to the rights of the holders of common stock;- prohibit stockholder action by consent in lieu of a meeting from and after the date on which our Designating Stockholders cease to beneficially own or control, in the aggregate, at least 30% of the total voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors unless such action is recommended by all directors then in office;- provide for certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings; and - establish advance notice requirements for nominations for elections to our board or for proposing other items of business that can be acted upon by stockholders at annual or special meetings. We have elected not to be governed by Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the "DGCL"), which is Delaware's anti-takeover statute that, subject to certain exceptions and approvals, restricts "business combinations," including specified mergers, asset sales, stock sales and other transactions, between a corporation and its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and any interested stockholder (generally defined to mean a person who, together with such person's affiliates and associates, owns 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation), on the other, for a three-year period following the time the person became an interested stockholder. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain "business combinations" with any "interested stockholder" for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless the transaction fits within an enumerated exception, such as board approval of the business combination or the transaction that resulted in a person becoming an interested stockholder prior to the time such person became an interested stockholder. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our Designating Stockholders and their affiliates, and any of their respective direct or indirect transferees, and any group as to which such persons are a party, do not constitute "interested stockholders" for purposes of this provision. These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions under Delaware law could discourage, delay, or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company, including actions that our stockholders may deem advantageous, or negatively affect the trading price of our Class A common stock. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.

The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell shares of our Class A common stock in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. As of February 23, 2026, we have a total of 811,647,534 shares of our Class A common stock outstanding. All of the shares of our Class A common stock that were sold in the IPO are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act"), by persons other than our "affiliates," as that term is defined under Rule 144 of the Securities Act ("Rule 144"). In addition, we and the Continuing Unitholders have entered into an exchange agreement under which they (or certain permitted transferees) have the right to exchange their Common Units (including Common Units issued upon conversion of vested Incentive Units) for shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications, whereupon an equivalent number of shares of Class B common stock held by each such Continuing Unitholder will be automatically transferred to us and cancelled and retired upon any such exchange. Subject to the terms of the exchange agreement, an aggregate of 502,045,878 Common Units may be exchanged for shares of our Class A common stock. Any shares we issue upon exchange of Common Units will be "restricted securities" as defined in Rule 144 and may not be sold in the absence of registration under the Securities Act unless an exemption from registration is available, including the exemptions contained in Rule 144. Under applicable SEC guidance, we believe that for purposes of Rule 144 the holding period in such shares will generally include the holding period in the corresponding Common Units exchanged. We, our directors, executive officers, and holders of substantially all of our outstanding Common Units immediately prior to the IPO have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any shares of our Class A common stock (including shares issued upon exchange of Common Units) or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our Class A common stock for 180 days from December 18, 2025, except with the prior written consent of either Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, and one additional representative, on behalf of the IPO underwriters, and the prior written notice to the other representatives. As a result of the registration rights agreement, however, all of these shares of our Class A common stock (including shares issued upon exchange of Common Units) may be eligible for future sale without restriction, subject to applicable lock-up arrangements. Subject to certain limitations and exceptions, pursuant to the terms of the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Medline Holdings, the Incentive Unitholders hold 41,788,894 Incentive Units, which have a weighted-average per unit participation threshold of $16.51 per Incentive Unit, and will have the right to convert their Incentive Units (assuming all conditions to vesting have been satisfied and all such Incentive Units are fully vested) into 27,875,935 Common Units of Medline Holdings. Common Units received upon conversion will be exchangeable on a one-for-one basis for shares of Class A common stock of Medline Inc. in accordance with the terms of the exchange agreement. In the event that the price of our Class A common stock increases, the number of Common Units a holder of vested Incentive Units would receive upon conversion of such Incentive Units would increase. The delivery of shares of Class A common stock upon exchange of Common Units received in conversion of Incentive Units will be registered on one or more registration statements on Form S-8. Upon the expiration of the lock-up agreements described above, all of such shares will be eligible for resale in the public market, subject, in the case of shares held by our affiliates, to volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144. We expect that our Principal Stockholders will continue to be considered affiliates following the expiration of the lock-up period based on their expected share ownership and their board nomination rights. Certain of our other stockholders may also be considered affiliates at that time. However, subject to the expiration or waiver of the 180-day lock-up period, the holders of these shares of Class A common stock will have the right, subject to certain exceptions and conditions, to require us to register their shares of Class A common stock under the Securities Act, and they will have the right to participate in future registrations of securities by us. Registration of any of these outstanding shares of Class A common stock would result in such shares becoming freely tradable without compliance with Rule 144 upon effectiveness of the registration statement. We have filed a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of our Class A common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our Class A common stock issued pursuant to our Omnibus Incentive Plan and our ESPP. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statements will be available for sale in the open market. In the future, we may also issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of our Class A common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then outstanding shares of Class A common stock. As the lock-up period or other restrictions on resale end, the market price of our shares of common stock could drop significantly if the holders of these restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our Class A common stock or other securities or to use our Class A common stock as consideration for acquisitions of other businesses, investments, or other corporate purposes.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our Class A common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our Board of Directors may determine. The terms of one or more series of preferred stock could adversely impact the voting power or value of our Class A common stock. For example, we might grant holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we might assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of the Class A common stock.

As of February 23, 2026, we have 49,188,328,656 shares of Class A common stock authorized but unissued, including 502,045,878 shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exchange of Common Units that will be held by the Common Unitholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue these shares of Class A common stock and options, rights, warrants and appreciation rights relating to Class A common stock for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion, whether in connection with acquisitions or otherwise. Similarly, the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Medline Holdings permits Medline Holdings to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership interests of Medline Holdings with designations, preferences, rights, powers and duties that are different from, and may be senior to, those applicable to the Common Units, and which may be exchangeable for shares of our Class A common stock. Additionally, we have reserved an aggregate of 60,000,000 shares of Class A common stock for issuance under our Medline Inc. 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the "Omnibus Incentive Plan"). There are also 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance under our Medline Inc. 2025 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "ESPP"). Any Class A common stock that we issue, including under our Omnibus Incentive Plan, our ESPP, or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future, would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors who purchase Class A common stock.

The market price of our Class A common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of shares of our Class A common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, our operating results could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors due to a number of potential factors, including variations in our quarterly operating results or dividends, if any, to stockholders, additions or departures of key management personnel, failure to meet analysts' earnings estimates, publication of research reports about our industry, litigation and government investigations, changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business, adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future, changes in market valuations of similar companies or speculation in the press or investment community, announcements by our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or capital commitments, adverse publicity about the industries we participate in or individual scandals, and in response the market price of shares of our Class A common stock could decrease significantly. You may be unable to resell your shares of Class A common stock at or above the IPO price. Stock markets and the price of our Class A shares may experience extreme price and volume fluctuations. In the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management's attention and resources.

Each share of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock entitles its holder to one vote on all matters to be voted on by the stockholders generally. We cannot predict whether our dual class structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock, in adverse publicity, or other adverse consequences. Certain index providers have in the past announced restrictions on including companies with multiple class share structures in certain of their indices. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indices, exclusion from stock indices would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be materially adversely affected.

The trading market for our Class A common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If any of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Class A common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our Class A common stock price may decline. If analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our Class A common stock price or trading volume to decline and our Class A common stock to be less liquid.

Our Sponsors, the Mills family, certain other pre-IPO investors, and their respective affiliates engage in a broad spectrum of activities, including investments in businesses that may compete with us. In the ordinary course of their business activities, our Sponsors, the Mills family, certain other pre-IPO investors, and their respective affiliates may engage in activities where their interests conflict with our interests or those of our stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will renounce any interest or expectancy that we would otherwise have in, and the right to be offered to participate in, any business opportunity that from time to time may be presented to our Sponsors, certain other pre-IPO investors, the Mills family, subject to limited exceptions, or any of their respective affiliates or any of our directors who are not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both their director and officer capacities) or their affiliates. Our Sponsors, the Mills family, certain other pre-IPO investors, and their respective affiliates also may pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. In addition, our Sponsors, the Mills family, and certain other pre-IPO investors may have an interest in our pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions that, in their judgment, could enhance their investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to us and our stockholders.

As of the date of this Annual Report, the Designating Stockholders beneficially own or control approximately 67.0% of the combined voting power of our shares eligible to vote in the election of our directors. Moreover, we have agreed to nominate to our board individuals designated by the Designating Stockholders in accordance with the director nomination agreements we entered into in connection with the IPO. The Designating Stockholders retain the right to designate directors subject to the maintenance of certain ownership requirements in us. For so long as the Designating Stockholders continue to own a significant percentage of our stock, they will still be able to significantly influence the composition of our Board of Directors and the approval of actions requiring stockholder approval through their voting power. Accordingly, for such period of time, the Designating Stockholders will have significant influence with respect to our management, business plans, and policies, including the appointment and removal of our officers. In particular, for so long as the Designating Stockholders continue to own a significant percentage of our stock, the Designating Stockholders may be able to prevent a change of control of our company or a change in the composition of our Board of Directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of our company. The concentration of ownership could deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company and ultimately might affect the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, as of the date of this Annual Report, the Common Unitholders (which include certain interests held by our Principal Stockholders) own 38.2% of the Common Units. Because they hold their ownership interest in our business directly in Medline Holdings, rather than through Medline Inc., the Common Unitholders may have conflicting interests with holders of shares of our Class A common stock. For example, if Medline Holdings makes distributions to Medline Inc., the Common Unitholders and participating Incentive Unitholders (as described below) will also be entitled to receive such distributions pro rata in accordance with the percentages of their respective Common Units or Incentive Units, as applicable, in Medline Holdings and their preferences as to the timing and amount of any such distributions may differ from those of our public stockholders. Incentive Units initially will not be entitled to receive distributions (other than tax distributions) until holders of Common Units have received a minimum return as provided in the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Medline Holdings. However, Incentive Units will have the benefit of adjustment provisions that will reduce the participation threshold for distributions in respect of which they do not participate until there is no participation threshold, at and after which time the Incentive Units would participate pro rata with distributions on Common Units. Although our Designating Stockholders are not holders of Incentive Units, our Named Executive Officers will hold a significant amount of Incentive Units which could create conflicts or misalignment of interest with the Common Unitholders and holders of shares of our Class A common stock. The pre-IPO owners may also have different tax positions from Medline Inc., which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when to dispose of assets, especially in light of the tax receivable agreement, and whether and when to incur new or refinance existing indebtedness. In addition, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration our pre-IPO owners' tax or other considerations even where no similar benefit would accrue to us.