Top News  Shutterstock Another glitzy IPO will begin trading today as a strong streak continues for stocks and the public markets. Bumble, the hot app which requires women to reach out first in hetero dating situations, will open on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "BMBL." It's worth more than $8B, based on a higher-than-expected share price of $43, while the company increased the number of shares it sold to as many as 57.5M.
Background: Bumble was founded in 2014 by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also behind the development of Tinder, but she left the dating app earlier that year due to growing tensions with some company executives. She later filed a lawsuit against Tinder for sexual harassment and subsequently started female-focused dating app Bumble. Another court fight broke out in 2018 after Bumble rejected a $450M acquisition offer from Match Group (MTCH), which had filed a lawsuit against it alleging intellectual property infringement. Bumble counter-sued two weeks later, accusing Match of fraud and trade secrets theft, and both lawsuits were dropped the same year.
Parent company Bumble Inc. also owns the Europe-focused dating app Badoo. More than 40M users visit the apps each month to connect with prospective matches. Bumble has 12.3M monthly active users as of Sept. 30, while Badoo has 28.4M monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower data. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Bumble had a pro forma net loss of $28M attributable to owners and shareholders on revenue of $413M.
Note: Blackstone (BX) acquired a majority stake in Bumble in November 2019 at a $3B valuation. The investment firm will own 82.5% of combined voting power in Bumble after the IPO, while Wolfe Herd will have 14.4%, according to the prospectus. (28 comments)
   | | Top News Shutterstock Another glitzy IPO will begin trading today as a strong streak continues for stocks and the public markets. Bumble, the hot app which requires women to reach out first in hetero dating situations, will open on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "BMBL." It's worth more than $8B, based on a higher-than-expected share price of $43, while the company increased the number of shares it sold to as many as 57.5M.
Background: Bumble was founded in 2014 by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also behind the development of Tinder, but she left the dating app earlier that year due to growing tensions with some company executives. She later filed a lawsuit against Tinder for sexual harassment and subsequently started female-focused dating app Bumble. Another court fight broke out in 2018 after Bumble rejected a $450M acquisition offer from Match Group (MTCH), which had filed a lawsuit against it alleging intellectual property infringement. Bumble counter-sued two weeks later, accusing Match of fraud and trade secrets theft, and both lawsuits were dropped the same year.
Parent company Bumble Inc. also owns the Europe-focused dating app Badoo. More than 40M users visit the apps each month to connect with prospective matches. Bumble has 12.3M monthly active users as of Sept. 30, while Badoo has 28.4M monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower data. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Bumble had a pro forma net loss of $28M attributable to owners and shareholders on revenue of $413M.
Note: Blackstone (BX) acquired a majority stake in Bumble in November 2019 at a $3B valuation. The investment firm will own 82.5% of combined voting power in Bumble after the IPO, while Wolfe Herd will have 14.4%, according to the prospectus. (28 comments)
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| Global President Biden has held his first telephone call with China's Xi Jinping since taking office in January as tensions remain high between the leaders of the world's two largest economies. In fact, it was the first call between a U.S. president and Xi since the latter spoke with President Trump in March 2020. Since then, relations between the two countries have sunk to their worst level in decades, with Trump blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden started the meeting by prioritizing a free and open Indo-Pacific and voicing concerns about China's "coercive and unfair economic practices." He also addressed Beijing's "crackdown in Hong Kong, reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan." In response, Xi warned a confrontation would be a "disaster" for both nations and the two sides should re-establish the means to avoid misjudgments. Xi also noted that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan were matters of "sovereignty and territorial integrity" and hopes the U.S. will deal with them cautiously.
Thought bubble: Under the Trump administration, the U.S. launched a trade war against China, as well as export controls, entity lists and executive orders against firms perceived to be security threats. China also failed to meet its 2020 targets under the Phase One trade agreement, buying just under 60% of the $172B worth of goods it was supposed to purchase. Biden has recently touted what he said was his friendship with the Xi, but gave a harsher assessment on the campaign trail last year, calling him a "thug" who "doesn't have a democratic bone in his body." He's likely to maintain pressure on China (no quick lift for tariffs), but via a more multilateral approach.
Meet the task force: On Wednesday, Biden also unveiled a new Defense Department team aimed at assessing the U.S. military's defense policy toward China. "That's how we'll meet the China challenge and ensure the American people win the competition in the future," he declared during his first visit as commander in chief to the Pentagon. The 15-member panel will "look at our strategy and operational concepts, technology, and force posture." (13 comments)
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