BREAKINGVIEWS — Bumble buyout needs more than a cheap wedding

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) By Sebastian Pellejero NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) — The dating app company is being taken private by Ithaca Holdings for $1.3 bln. Even slow topline growth could generate nearly 20% annual returns given the low price. With paying users down by a quarter, though, finding new customers requires more than a good opening line. Full view will be published shortly. Follow Sebastian Pellejero on LinkedIn. Context News Bumble said on October 13 it had agreed to be taken private by Ithaca Holdings in a deal valuing the dating app operator at $1.3 billion. Ithaca will pay $6.05 per share for Bumble, a 122% premium to the stock's closing price ​on June 24, the day before Ithaca's co-CEOs Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman will become co-CEOs of Bumble, working with founder Whitney Wolfe Herd. (Editing by Robert Cyran; Production by Pranav Kiran) ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on PELLEJERO/ mailto:Sebastian.Pellejero@thomsonreuters.com)