Bumble agrees to go private at $6.05 a share in cash deal
Business Wire identifies the buyer as Ithaca Holdings, a technology holding company, not the North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy
Published
Bumble has agreed to an all-cash acquisition at $6.05 per Class A share, according to a Business Wire release carried by FinancialContent.
The $6.05 price works out to roughly a 138% premium over Bumble's closing share price on October 9, and about a 119% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price through that date, Business Wire reported. Bumble's Special Committee reviewed the transaction and the board recommended it on the committee's advice, according to the release.
The agreement follows reports on Monday that Bumble was in advanced talks to go private at a valuation near $1 billion, with a deal possible within the week. Those talks marked a reversal from earlier reporting that had pointed toward an IPO, and came days after Bumble's largest shareholders began weighing the company's options.
The signed deal puts a firm number on a situation that had only carried a rough billion-dollar estimate, giving shareholders certainty after weeks of speculative reporting. It also closes out one of the few concrete resolutions among this autumn's wave of take-private approaches, most of which remain unresolved.