Dating app Bumble boosts size of its IPO offering
Bumble has boosted the size of its IPO by nearly $2bn bringing its valuation to more than $7bn when it goes public.
The dating app, which competes with rivals such as Tinder and Hinge, announced it was looking to raise as much as $1.8bn in its stock market debut.
It plans to boost its share sale to 45m shares at $39 per share up from the previously offered 34.5m at a price range of between $28 and $30 a share.
Previous reports by Bloomberg suggest Bumble, which lets women make the first move, is plotting to go public on or around Valentine’s Day.
Bumble registered for a float last month and the filing revealed a steady period of revenue growth for the app, although higher operating costs pushed the firm to a loss.
It boasted 42m monthly active users as of the third quarter, and 2.4m paying users in the nine months to September. Revenue for the first nine months of the year came in at $376.6m, up from $362.6m the previous year.
Bumble’s debut comes at a busy time for public markets, with a record $168bn raised through floats last year, according to figures from Dealogic.
Since the start of 2021, some 42 companies have already reached $1bn valuation with a particularly strong showing from e-commerce and fintech companies, according to research by Tipalti.
Bumble said Blackstone, which currently holds about 87.1 per cent voting power, will still hold 79.5 per cent after its Nasdaq debut. Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who cofounded rival app Tinder, will hold 16 per cent voting power.