Blackstone to Take Majority Stake in MagicLab, Owner of Bumble and Badoo, at $3 Billion Valuation
November 08 2019 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced today that funds managed by
Blackstone ("Blackstone") are taking a majority stake in MagicLab,
which builds and operates leading dating and social networking
apps, including Bumble and Badoo. The transaction values the
company at approximately $3 billion.
Founded in 2006 by Andrey Andreev, MagicLab helped invent how
people meet in the modern, mobile age. MagicLab’s suite of brands
has connected and transformed the lives of over 500 million people
around the world across dating, social, and business. The group
shares a foundation of technology, talent, and experience to
constantly innovate new ways for people to meet and create
life-changing moments by building relationships. Over his career,
Mr. Andreev has been at the forefront of innovation in the dating
industry and has continued to invest in finding the most talented
entrepreneurs and tech visionaries to mentor.
As part of the acquisition, Mr. Andreev will be selling his
stake and stepping down from the business. He will be replaced as
CEO by Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder and CEO of Bumble, who, together
with Blackstone, will work to accelerate the business’ growth even
further.
Commenting on the transaction, Andrey Andreev said: “Blackstone
presented MagicLab with a great opportunity to further develop the
brands and platform, and I am confident Blackstone will take
MagicLab to the next level in terms of growth and expansion. I am
incredibly proud of the company, and of how we have connected
millions of people around the world. At MagicLab, I have had the
pleasure of working with some of the best and most talented
entrepreneurs. My aim now is to ensure a smooth and successful
transition before I embark on a new business venture in search of
innovative leaders with new and exciting ideas. I am grateful for
all the support of my partners and employees over the years as we
couldn’t have gotten to this point without them. I wish MagicLab
and Blackstone every success.”
Whitney Wolfe Herd added: “This transaction is an incredibly
important and exciting moment for Bumble and the MagicLab group of
brands and team members. Blackstone is world-class at maximizing
the success of entrepreneur-led companies, which presents a
tremendous opportunity. We are very excited to build the next
chapter with them. I am honored to take on the role of CEO of the
group. I will strive to lead the group with a continued
values-based and mission-first focus, the same one that has been
core to Bumble since I founded the company five years ago. We will
keep working towards our goal of recalibrating gender norms and
empowering people to connect globally, and now at a much faster
pace with our new partner.”
Jon Korngold, Head of Blackstone Growth (BXG), said: “We’re
excited to invest in MagicLab, which is a pioneer in the
fast-growing online dating industry. They have a highly talented
team and strong set of platforms, including Bumble, which was built
on a commitment to inclusion and female empowerment. This
partnership is a perfect example of Blackstone’s ability to use its
scale, long-term investment horizon, and deep bench of operational
resources to help entrepreneurs take advantage of transformational
growth opportunities in order to create global industry leaders
over time.”
Martin Brand, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added:
“We look forward to partnering with MagicLab to help fuel the
company’s continued expansion in the years ahead.”
Citi Global Capital Markets Inc. is serving as an exclusive
financial advisor to MagicLab and is providing financing in support
of the acquisition by Blackstone. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is
serving as legal advisor to Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO
of Bumble. Baker McKenzie is serving as legal advisor to the
majority shareholders of MagicLab (including Andrey Andreev) and
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to
Blackstone.
About MagicLab
Founded by Andrey Andreev, MagicLab invented how people meet in
the modern, mobile age. Through its growing family of brands that
include Badoo, Bumble, Chappy, and Lumen, MagicLab has connected
and transformed the lives of over 500 million people around the
world across dating, social, and business. Our group shares a
foundation of technology, talent, and experience to constantly
innovate new ways for people to meet and drive long-term
growth.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We
seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our
investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which
we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible
capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management
businesses, with $554 billion in assets under management, include
investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public
debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and
secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is
available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter
@Blackstone.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191108005410/en/
For Blackstone: Matt Anderson Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com
212-390-2472 For MagicLab: press@magiclab.co
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