Bumble raises stakes for IPO date with over $7 billion valuation target

Companies raised a record $168 billion through IPOs on stock exchanges in 2020, according to data from Dealogic.

Bumble Inc, which operates its eponymous dating app, on Monday increased the size of its much-awaited stock market debut and is now aiming for a valuation of more than $7 billion when it goes public.

The Bumble Trading Inc. website on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. A booming market for U.S. initial public offerings shows no sign of slowing in 2021. Dating app�Bumble�Trading Inc.�has filed�confidentially�for an IPO that could come as soon as February. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

The owner of the app, which is unique among dating applications for letting women make the first move, is lining up its initial public offering (IPO) at a time when the U.S. IPO market is enjoying its strongest bull run in more than two decades.

Companies raised a record $168 billion through IPOs on stock exchanges in 2020, according to data from Dealogic.

Bumble said on Monday it would look to raise as much as $1.8 billion, after upsizing its share sale to 45 million shares at $39 apiece at the upper end of the range. It had earlier offered 34.5 million at a price range of $28 to $30 a share.

Austin, Texas-based Bumble had confidentially filed for an IPO late last year. The company, in which Blackstone is a majority stakeholder, plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "BMBL".

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are the lead underwriters for the offering.