Blackstone And Bumble's Founder Sign Off On $6.05-A-Share Ithaca Deal, Skipping A Shareholder Vote
Blackstone's 12% holder group and Whitney Wolfe Herd approved Bumble's cash sale by written consent on October 12.
Blackstone's funds and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd approved the company's cash sale to Ithaca by written consent, according to an amended Schedule 13D filed Wednesday. Each Class A share converts to $6.05 in cash, and Blackstone reports holding 15,901,210 of them, or 12% of the class.
What the amendment says
Bumble signed the merger agreement on October 12 with Ithaca Holdco and two merger subsidiaries. The same day, seven BX Buzz Holdco funds and Wolfe Herd with certain affiliates executed a written stockholder consent adopting it. The filing says together they hold more than a majority of Bumble's voting power, so the shareholder approval is in hand.
Class A shares convert to $6.05 in cash, without interest. Class B shares convert to $0.000001 each. Each common unit of Opco, Bumble's operating partnership, gets the Class A price minus the Class B price.
The 12% figure uses 131,968,314 Class A shares outstanding as of July 31, 2026, taken from Bumble's 10-Q. The Blackstone entities and Wolfe Herd with her affiliates are treated as a group under a stockholders agreement; together they may be deemed to own 38,524,694 shares, or 25.1% of the class.
What changes for holders
Bumble's Class A shares closed at $5.97 on Wednesday and were unchanged at $5.97 in Wednesday after-hours trading, below the $6.05 offer. The sale follows a strategic review by an independent special committee of Bumble's board, according to Yahoo Finance. Wolfe Herd recused herself from the board's deliberations and vote, and Ithaca co-founders Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman are slated to become co-chief executives alongside her once the deal completes.
The filing also covers Blackstone's hedge. Its Forward Transactions terminated on October 13, and the sales price for the final calculation period was set at $3.5923 per share. A total of 2,763,510 pledged shares were released and delivered to the dealer in settlement.
As of October 13, all 15,901,210 of Blackstone's shares remain pledged under margin loan agreements, with about $9,387,932.70 in principal outstanding.
What to watch
The filing does not date the closing. Completion of the mergers is the point at which Blackstone's shares and every other Class A share turn into cash.
The Class A shares closed at $5.97 on Wednesday, against a $6.05 cash price that holders receive only when the mergers become effective.
Sources
- SCHEDULE 13D/A — Blackstone Inc. re: Bumble Inc. (BMBL) — SEC EDGAR
- SCHEDULE 13D/A Exhibit 99.1 — SEC EDGAR
- Bumble Agrees to $1.3 Billion All-Cash Acquisition by Ithaca Holdings at $6.05 Per Share — Yahoo Finance
