{"id":49892,"date":"2026-10-13T01:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T05:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/10\/13\/bumble-shares-soar-after-report-dating-firm-in-1bn-takeover-talks\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T01:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T05:23:37","slug":"bumble-shares-soar-after-report-dating-firm-in-1bn-takeover-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/10\/13\/bumble-shares-soar-after-report-dating-firm-in-1bn-takeover-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Bumble shares soar after report dating firm in $1bn takeover talks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Shares in dating app company Bumble soared by almost 50% on Monday after a report that it is in advanced talks to be bought for around $1bn (\u00a3757m).<\/b><\/p>\n

Technology holding company Ithaca could announce a deal to buy the Texas-based firm as early as this week, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

The jump in Bumble’s shares pushed its stock market valuation to over $580m but that is still far below a peak of more than $14bn it reached after listing on the Nasdaq in 2021.<\/p>\n

Bumble is one of the world’s most downloaded dating apps, operating in a crowded market where growth has slowed. The BBC has contacted Bumble and Ithaca for comment.<\/p>\n

Bumble was launched in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also a co-founder of dating app giant Tinder.<\/p>\n

Wolfe Herd built Bumble’s brand around a distinctive feature that only allowed women to initiate conversations with matches.<\/p>\n

It recently abandoned that rule, prompting debate among users over whether the app had lost what set it apart from rivals.<\/p>\n

“Today, our community is asking for more flexibility, less pressure, and more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections and that is what this new experience provides,” Wolfe Herd said in August.<\/p>\n

Dating apps like Bumble have come under pressure in recent years as some younger users have grown disillusioned with browsing for dates.<\/p>\n

Bumble said in 2025 that it would cut almost a third of its workforce as the industry grappled with what Wolfe Herd described as an “inflection point” in online dating.<\/p>\n

Investments in other dating companies have also soured as apps have struggled to convince users to pay for their services.<\/p>\n

Match Group – which owns apps including Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge – has also seen its shares fall sharply from their peak in 2021.<\/p>\n

According a report by media watchdog Ofcom in 2025, adults in the UK were spending less time on dating apps compared to three years earlier.<\/p>\n

Some single people are instead turning to board game get-togethers, book clubs and other group activities in the hope of finding a partner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shares in dating app company Bumble soared by almost 50% on Monday after a report that it is in advanced talks to be bought for around $1bn (\u00a3757m). Technology holding company Ithaca could announce a deal to buy the Texas-based firm as early as this week, according to the Wall Street Journal. The jump in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-market","category-news","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}