Davis Polk is advising Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of Bumble, in connection with the acquisition by Blackstone of a majority stake in MagicLab, which builds and operates leading dating and social networking apps including Bumble and Badoo. The transaction values MagicLab at approximately $3 billion. In connection with the acquisition, Whitney Wolfe Herd will become CEO of MagicLab and, together with Blackstone, will work to accelerate the business’s growth even further.

Bumble is a “female first” location-based social, dating and professional networking application. In 2014, advised by Davis Polk, Whitney Wolfe Herd entered into a joint venture with MagicLab relating to the launch of Bumble. Since its launch, Bumble has grown to become one of the most relevant social networks worldwide. Today, Bumble, with over 26 million users, connects people across dating, friendship and professional networking and is available in 144 countries. Since 2014, Bumble has facilitated over 440 million women-led first moves and over four billion messages sent. 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.

The Davis Polk corporate team includes partners Evan Rosen and Will Pearce, counsel William Tong and associate Elyka A. Anvari. Partners David H. Schnabel and Jonathan Cooklin and associates Aliza Slansky and Christina L. Tacoronti are providing tax advice. Partner Jeffrey P. Crandall and associate Charlotte R. Fabiani are providing executive compensation advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York and London offices.

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