Market observers this morning are watching for the debut of Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL), as the dating app’s initial public offering priced at $43 a share. Seeking to raise $2.2 billion in the floatation, the offering initially values the company at more than $7 billion. So what else do you need to know about the Bumble IPO?
Bumble has women in control, both of the company and the app. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is one of the few women to have lead her company to a public listing. She is the youngest woman, at age 31, to take a large company public as chief executive officer.
That seems to align well with the app that enables “women to make the first move.” Seeking to change the “archaic gender dynamics and old-fashioned traditions” of the dating world, Herd started Bumble in 2014. She had previously been a co-founder of Tinder, which, along with dating platform Match.com (NASDAQ:MTCH), is a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IAC).
BMBL Stock Debut Seems Well Timed
As InvestorPlace Markets Analyst Thomas Yeung wrote earlier this week, “Bumble’s IPO is a textbook case of a well-planned offering on several fronts.” The deal’s pricing was smart compared to IAC, he noted, before the IPO price was boosted from $37-$39 per share range to $43.
“IAC has seen its shares rocket up 225% in the past year as stuck-at-home people turned to apps for social connections. And Bumble, with its higher-quality earnings than most recent special-purpose acquisition companies, will likely see equally strong investor demand,” Yeung wrote.
A moderate first-day pop will give Bumble the air of success without leaving too much money on the table.
On the date of publication, Robert Lakin had a long position in IAC stock.
InvestorPlace contributor Robert Lakin is a veteran financial writer and editor, following fintech, agtech and property tech startups.
