Bumble agreed to be acquired by Ithaca Holdings in an all-cash deal valuing the dating app company at $1.3B.
Shareholders will receive $6.05 per share of Class A common stock, a 138% premium to the unaffected share price. Reuters first reported the advanced talks, citing a source who put the valuation at roughly $1B.
Ithaca Co-CEOs Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman will take over as Co-CEOs of Bumble after closing, working alongside founder Whitney Wolfe Herd.
The price is a fraction of Bumble's IPO peak
Bumble was worth about $14B after its 2021 public debut, making the sale a steep markdown from that high.
Second-quarter sales crashed 15.2%, alongside a sharp drop in paying users.
Wolfe Herd returned as chief executive in early 2025 to restart growth with AI-powered matching features, and the business hasn't stabilized since.
The company cut one-third of its workforce in 2025 as costs outran revenue.
Gen Z stopped swiping
The dating app market has slowed as younger users tire of endless swiping and look for in-person ways to meet people.
Rival Match Group, owner of Tinder and Hinge, has posted similar user declines in a crowded field. Both companies have leaned on artificial intelligence to make matches feel less like a numbers game, with limited payoff so far.
Private ownership removes the quarterly scoreboard that has tracked every lost subscriber since the IPO.
Ithaca describes itself as a long-term holding company for enduring technology businesses, which suggests a slower turnaround timeline than public markets allow.
For retail investors who bought near the top, the cash offer closes the chapter at a price well below where the story started.
