I=9
Bumble secures $475M Term Loan at aroud 11% interest, 4-year maturity, 12.5-15% amortization, leverage ratio of <3x and early prepayment penalties
- The loan carries interest at either Base Rate + 7.0% or SOFR + 8.0%.
- The loan is amortized at 12.5% per year of the original loan amount during the first year of payments and 15.0% per year of the original loan amount for all subsequent years.
- The agreement includes a leverage covenant, requiring total leverage to stay at or below 3.0x initially, stepping down over time to 2.0x by mid-2028, and a minimum liquidity requirement of $25 million for the first 5 months, rising to $50 million thereafter.
- Early repayment penalties apply: a make-whole premium if repaid within the first 2 years, and a 4% penalty if repaid between years 2 and 3.
- The loan is secured by company assets and guarantees, includes mandatory prepayments from certain cash sources, and is accompanied by a $50 million revolving credit facility maturing in 2030.
Assessment
A leverage covenant of 3.0x, stepping down to 2.0x over time, may limit Bumble’s ability to take on additional debt, especially if business conditions do not improve in the near term. This could constrain financial flexibility, as the company is also required to make meaningful annual repayments of around 12.5% to 15% of the $475 million loan (approximately $60–70 million per year). However, Bumble generated about $250 million in operating cash flow in 2025 and had a leverage of around 2x at the end of 2025(debt of $582 m and adjusted EBITDA of $313 m), which helps support these obligations. Therefore, if business conditions do not deteriorate materially, Bumble’s financial position should be sufficient in the near-term.
Given the current Base Rate is 3.75% and SOFR is around 3.6%, the interest rate on the loan is around 11%.