What's going on?

Bumble�s finally ready to put itself out there: the women-go-first dating app is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) early next year.

What does this mean?

Bumble didn�t say how much money it plans on raising, but the IPO could, according to people in the know, value the company at an easy-on-the-eye $6-8 billion. That�s at least double the $3 billion that Bumble-parent MagicLab � which owns three other dating apps � was valued at last year when private equity firm Blackstone bought a majority stake in the company.

Bumble probably got all hot under the collar after the post-IPO success of its closest rival: Match Group � which owns Tinder, Match.com, and Hinge � has seen its stock price rise by more than 800% since its IPO five years ago. That�s cute, but Bumble�s probably hoping its differentiating feature � that women make the first move � will help it stand out from those other eligible suitors.

Why should I care?

For markets: Live, laugh, IPO.
Plenty of companies were forced to postpone their IPOs earlier this year, but�now they�re looking to ride the US stock market�s huge post-lockdown recovery. That means Bumble is joining a parade of other tech hotties � including Doordash, Palantir, and Airbnb � that are all thinking about flaunting their assets on the IPO market (tweet this).

The bigger picture: Looking for something short-term.
Private equity firms like Blackstone use IPOs as a way to �exit� their investments in private companies and lock down the gains they�ve made on paper. That usually takes them a few years, but Blackstone�s planned exit from Bumble will come just a year after it first invested in the firm. That could be a sign of the weird times we live in: US tech stocks are up almost 40% this year, and it pays to strike while the going is good.