Update: Bumble Inc. shares began trading on the Nasdaq on Feb. 11, opening at $76, well above their IPO price of $43 per share. The stock closed Feb. 11 at $70.31. For the latest, go here.
Original story: Bumble Inc. again increased the price of its initial public offering, on the eve of its shares becoming available for the public.
The Austin-based company, which makes apps for both dating and networking, on Feb. 10 set a price of $43 per share. It intends to sell 50 million shares of class A common stock, and underwriters have the option to purchase up to 7.5 million more shares. That could generate $2.15 billion, before fees are deducted.
The IPO is expected today, Feb. 11, with shares trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker "BMBL."
Bumble publicly filed for its IPO in January. In early February, it disclosed a price range of $28 to $30 per share. Earlier this week, it increased that range to $37 to $39 per share.
The stock market debut is being closely watched in Austin since it represents the biggest IPO in years for a consumer-facing technology company in the city. Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd has also been heralded for leading the company to these heights and joining the small number of women leading public companies. From a market perspective, many analysts are wondering how Bumble can compete with much-larger Match.com, owner of dating app Tinder, where Wolfe Herd was a co-founder.
The banks involved in the IPO read like a page of stock market briefs out of the Wall Street Journal: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Citigroup joint lead book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are joint book-running managers while Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets and Evercore ISI are joint book-runners.
Blackstone Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, Cowen, Raymond James, Stifel, BTIG, Nomura, SMBC Nikko, AmeriVet Securities, C.L. King & Associates, Drexel Hamilton, Loop Capital Markets, R. Seelaus & Co., LLC, Ramirez & Co., Inc., Siebert Williams Shank and Telsey Advisory Group are acting as co-managers for the offering.
