Blackstone takes majority stake in ‘Bumble’ parent, values firm at about $3 billion

 Blackstone Group Inc  is taking a majority stake in MagicLab, the parent company of dating app “Bumble” and “Badoo”, valuing the company at about $ 3 billion, the private equity firm said in a statement on Friday.

Following the deal, Andrey Andreev who is the founder of MagicLab, will sell his stake to Blackstone and be replaced as chief executive officer by Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s present CEO.

Bumble began in 2014 as a dating platform for women to start discussions with potential male partners and competes with Match Group Inc’s (MTCH.O) Tinder and Facebook’s (FB.O) dating service.

Shares of Match Group, which also owns dating platforms OkCupid and PlentyOfFish, were down 2.5%.

Citi Global Capital Markets is the financial adviser to MagicLab and Baker McKenzie is the legal adviser to the MagicLab’s majority shareholders. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is the legal adviser to Blackstone.