---
title: Bumble Will Go Private for $1.3 Billion as Ithaca Holdings Agrees to Pay $6.05 a Share
description: Ithaca Holdings will take Bumble private at $6.05 a share, valuing it at $1.3 billion. Blackstone and Whitney Wolfe Herd approved it, so there is no vote.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-10-14T07:12:09.084Z
updated: 2026-10-14T07:12:09.092Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/how-much-is-bumble-worth
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/bumble-couple-on-date-435492.webp
categories: Business
content_type: News
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Ithaca Holdings has agreed to buy Bumble Inc., the parent of the Bumble, Badoo and BFF apps, for $6.05 a share in cash, valuing the dating company at $1.3 billion. The two sides signed the merger agreement on October 12 and [announced the deal](https://ir.bumble.com/news/news-details/2026/Bumble-Inc--to-Be-Acquired-by-Ithaca-Holdings-the-Long-Term-Holding-Company-for-Enduring-Technology-Businesses/default.aspx) on Tuesday. Once it closes, Bumble will be privately held and is expected to stay based in Austin, Texas.

The price is about 86% below the $43 a share at which Bumble [priced its initial public offering](https://ir.bumble.com/news/news-details/2021/Bumble-Inc.-Prices-2.2-Billion-IPO/default.aspx) in February 2021. It is also about 138% above Bumble's unaffected closing price on Friday, October 9, and about 119% above its 30-day volume weighted average price as of that date. Bumble's shares rose 56% to $5.94 in morning trading on Tuesday, just under the cash price, according to 24/7 Wall St. Shares of Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, rose 2% to $42.32.

## Bumble's Revenue Fell 15.2% in the Second Quarter

Bumble's second-quarter results, reported on August 5, showed total revenue down 15.2% to $210.5 million from $248.2 million a year earlier. Paying users across its apps fell to 3.2 million from 3.8 million. The company reported a net loss of $127.9 million, which included a $169.3 million impairment charge, and adjusted EBITDA of $72.9 million, or 34.6% of revenue. At June 30, Bumble had $154.0 million in cash and $451.0 million in total debt, and it forecast third-quarter revenue of $205 million to $213 million.

## Sequoia's Ravi Gupta and Former Meta Revenue Chief John Hegeman Will Run Bumble

Gupta and Hegeman founded Ithaca and run it as co-chief executives, and they will become co-CEOs of Bumble when the deal closes. Gupta is on Sequoia Capital's growth team and previously worked at Instacart. Hegeman spent 17 years at Meta and was its chief revenue officer from December 2024 before leaving to start his own venture. Ithaca says it combines frontier technology with operating expertise to renew established technology companies.

## Blackstone and Wolfe Herd Approved the Sale, So Public Shareholders Will Not Vote

Bumble's 2026 proxy statement shows that as of April 6, Blackstone held 48.9% of the company's combined voting power and Wolfe Herd held 34.8%, a combined 83.7%. Bumble is a "controlled company" under Nasdaq rules because those two holders have more than half the vote. Affiliates of Blackstone and Wolfe Herd approved the merger by written consent after the agreement was signed, and Bumble's SEC filing states: "No further action by holders of shares of Company Common Stock is required to complete the Mergers." Other shareholders will receive an information statement instead.

Ann Mather became chair of the board in March 2025, when Wolfe Herd, who founded Bumble in 2014, returned as chief executive in place of Lidiane Jones. An independent Special Committee of the board, chaired by Mather and advised by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Davis Polk, reviewed the alternatives and recommended the deal. The board then approved it unanimously, with Wolfe Herd recused from the deliberations and the vote. Mather said "the Committee thoroughly evaluated all available paths and determined that this transaction with Ithaca represents the best outcome for our shareholders."

Beehive Holdings III, LP, an entity affiliated with Wolfe Herd, will swap Class A shares for equity in Oak Topco, Inc., an Ithaca subsidiary, under a rollover agreement, so those shares will not be paid the $6.05. Wolfe Herd said she "will remain actively involved with Bumble." Under the merger agreement, unvested restricted stock units become cash amounts that vest on their original schedule, and stock options are cancelled with no payment.

## The Sale Needs Antitrust Clearance, and Either Side Can Walk Away After July 12, 2027

Greenoaks Prime Radiant LP has agreed to provide equity financing under a commitment letter dated October 12, according to Bumble's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the deal has no financing condition.

Closing requires the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period to expire and other government approvals. Bumble must also mail a Schedule 14C information statement to shareholders and wait 20 days, and Bumble, Ithaca and certain other parties will file a Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement with the SEC.

Either side can end the agreement if the sale has not closed by July 12, 2027. Bumble has agreed not to seek other offers and would owe Ithaca a $29 million termination fee in certain circumstances. Ithaca would owe Bumble $102 million in specified circumstances, including a failure to close, and must deposit that sum in escrow by October 19.

Bumble will file its third-quarter report on Form 10-Q with the SEC by November 9 and does not plan to issue an earnings release or hold a conference call for the quarter.

## FAQ

**Q: How much is Bumble worth now?**
Ithaca's $6.05-a-share cash offer values Bumble at $1.3 billion. The premium depends on which closing price you measure from: Bumble puts it at 138% over its October 9 close, while 24/7 Wall St puts it at 122.4% over the close on the day before Bumble's exploration of a sale was first reported.

**Q: Who owns Bumble?**
Blackstone and Wolfe Herd hold far more of the vote than of the company's shares. As of April 6, Blackstone held 22.9% of Bumble's Class A stock and Wolfe Herd held 14.0% of the common units of Buzz Holdings L.P., a Bumble partnership whose unit holders get one vote per unit through Bumble's Class B stock; their voting power was 48.9% and 34.8%. Most of the money raised in Bumble's 2021 IPO went to buy equity interests from Blackstone-affiliated entities.

**Q: How is Bumble doing financially?**
Revenue is falling at both of its main apps. In the second quarter, Bumble App revenue fell 14.7% to $171.7 million and revenue from Badoo App and Other fell 17.1% to $38.8 million. Bumble relaunched its BFF friendship app in the US in September 2025 and has not tried to make money from it.

**Q: Is Bumble bigger than Tinder?**
Match Group's second-quarter results do not give Tinder's revenue on its own, so the comparison is with Tinder's owner. Match, which also owns Hinge, had $853 million in revenue and 13.3 million payers, against Bumble Inc.'s $210.5 million and 3.2 million.