One of America’s Richest Families Emerges From Medline Deal

  • Mills family to retain biggest stake in medical supply company
  • Clan will face complex decisions regarding estate planning

Charles Mills

Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

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The sale of Medline Industries Inc. to a consortium of private equity firms has brought one of the world’s wealthiest families into the limelight.

The deal, valued at more than $30 billion, stands to rank among the biggest transactions ever involving a family-owned business. The proceeds from the majority investment by Blackstone Group Inc., Carlyle Group Inc. and Hellman & Friedman will largely flow to the Mills, a Chicago-based clan who’ve been in the medical supply business for four generations.