Nov 11, 2019

Blackstone Group buys majority stake in Bumble parent company

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

The Blackstone Group agreed to buy a majority stake in Magic Lab, the owner of dating apps Bumble and Badoo, at an enterprise value of around $3 billion.

Why it matters: This represents a heartbreaking loss for Match Group, whose love/hate relationship with Magic Lab has included both takeover efforts and lawsuits. Now Match will be forced to watch as Magic Lab and Blackstone get more serious, likely leading to an IPO ceremony.

CEO shuffle: Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd becomes CEO of Magic Lab, and retains most of her stake. Magic Lab founder and CEO Andrey Andreev sells his entire position to Blackstone.

The bottom line: "Bumble sets itself apart from other dating apps with its requirement that women initiate a conversation that might lead to a date. Blackstone aims to help it expand into more geographies and to continue branching out into facilitating nondating-related social meetups." ⁠— Miriam Gottfried, WSJ

Go deeper: Blackstone Group to pay $5.9 billion for Colony Capital warehouses

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