BUMBLE acquired by ITHACA HOLDINGS

Ithaca Holdings agreed on 13 October 2026 to acquire Bumble in an all-cash transaction at an enterprise value of $1.6bn. Shareholders were to receive cash for each share of Class A common stock, a premium of about 138% to the unaffected closing price on 9 October 2026 and of about 119% to the 30-day volume weighted average price. Bumble generated revenue of $893m and an EBITDA of $250–500M, an EBITDA margin of [members only], implying an EV/EBITDA multiple of 5x–12x and an EV/revenue multiple of 1.8x. An independent special committee of Bumble’s board, advised by its own legal and financial advisers, reviewed a range of strategic alternatives before recommending the deal to the full board, which approved it unanimously with founder Whitney Wolfe Herd recusing herself from the deliberations and the vote. Once the agreement was signed, affiliates of Blackstone and Wolfe Herd approved the transaction by written consent, providing the shareholder approval required. On completion, Ithaca co-chief executives Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman were to become co-chief executives of Bumble, working alongside Wolfe Herd, who was to stay actively involved. Bumble was to operate as a private company, keeping its offices in London, Austin and New York and remaining based in Austin. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisers to the special committee, with Davis Polk & Wardwell as legal adviser. Kirkland & Ellis advised Ithaca Holdings on legal matters, with KKR Capital Markets as capital markets adviser. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Whitney Wolfe Herd and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Blackstone.