The $2.2 billion initial public offering of dating application Bumble on Thursday went off like so many before it. Bumble’s bankers upped its IPO price about 50% from an initial range to meet fierce demand for shares, but it didn’t tame the raging animal spirits of investors bidding up tech stock valuations into the stratosphere. Bumble shares skyrocketed 63% on its first day of trading, making founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, 31, the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire.
For Blackstone’s flagship $18 billion buyout fund, BCP VII, the deal is a home run. All in, the firm has already made over four-times its initial investment, according to Forbes’ calculations. The windfall is mostly housed in the fund, and others like its tactical opportunities and growth funds. But it’s hardly an aberration. Look across Blackstone’s private equity portfolio and the firm seems to be sitting on a gold mine of similar dealmaking coups in companies involving digital payments, cloud software and data.
Coming out of the enormous disruption of the pandemic, Blackstone is beating the drum that the firm is firing on all cylinders. Now that it has listed Bumble, Blackstone’s growth equity business may be the next business to list a massive windfall as it aims to bring oat milk company Oatly public.
By Antoine Gara, Forbes Staff
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