Only a few weeks after shutting down its Maltese branch, US healthcare giant Medline recorded the largest IPO of the year globally.

Medline took over Microtek Medical Malta, a manufacturer of medical devices, last year after acquiring Ecolab Surgical Solutions.

However, in November Economy Minister Silvio Schembri announced that Medline will shut down Microtek as part of a global workforce consolidation strategy.

Some 96 people faced redundancy as a result, with the government and the General Workers’ Union stepping in to help them find a new job.

Yesterday, Medline made waves on an international level after pulling off the biggest initial public offering of the year.

Medline’s stock closed at $41 a share on its Wall Street debut, up from its $29 IPO price to bring the company’s market capitalisation to around $54 billion.

“Historically, we’ve done very little advertising, very little marketing, and this gives us a way to amplify our voice and actually expand really the receptivity of who we are,” Medline CEO Jim Boyle told CNBC.

“We are the largest company you’ve never heard of, and we happen to be everywhere. And that’s a really interesting thing.”