Blackstone Group Inc. is taking a majority stake in the owner of dating app Bumble as part of the private-equity giant’s broader push to invest more in fast-growing companies.

The deal, which was announced Friday and previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, values dating-site parent company MagicLab at about $3 billion, Blackstone said.

As...

Ultimate Software launched nearly 30 years ago. Today, Ultimate serves more than 6,000 customers worldwide. But even from its early days as a startup, Ultimate put itself on the right track. The human resources (HR) – also known as human capital management (HCM) – company began with two men and two women, which set the stage for the importance of diversity and equality from Day 1. And the tremendous potential for women in tech.

One of Ultimate’s leaders recently delivered a passionate presentation about the future of work at DisruptHR NYC.

Shortly before her presentation, Grit Daily had the opportunity to sit down with Cecile Alper-Leroux, who joined Ultimate nine years ago. Today, Cecile serves as the VP of HCM Innovation and is a role model among women in tech. Ultimate not only provides Cecile and her colleagues with creative latitude, but it also fosters women’s inclusion and empowerment.

Grit Daily: Ultimate Software has a...

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the wildfires that have plagued much of California, Apria Healthcare — one of the nation’s largest providers of home healthcare and equipment services — announced a mobilized effort to deliver critical equipment to patients in need.

When her husband died of pancreatic cancer in 2012, one of the big decisions Diane Whittles faced was what to do with the business franchise he had headed, ServPro of Severna Park/Annapolis.

She had kept the company books for decades but had no experience running a business and no experience dealing with the type of disasters that a restoration company deals with every day.

Despite all that, and to the surprise of many, she decided to run the franchise herself.

“I didn’t want to sell the business,” she recalled. “I just thought, ‘Well, I’ll try to run it, and if I don’t like it, if I’m not successful, I’ll think of a Plan B.’

“Luckily, I ended up loving it.”

Even more luckily, she ended up running it well. In her seven years at the helm, Dianne Whittles has added two more franchises, one in Edgewater and, just last year, one in Pasadena, and branched out into reconstruction, home improvements and selling flooring.

“What’s really...

Blackstone's credit arm — known as GSO Capital Partners — is going through a transition. All three of its founders will have retired from the firm by year's end.It has 400 employees globally, with $140 billion in assets under management. It offers investors everything from energy loans to European lending.As GSO's last founder exits, its new leader, Dwight Scott, says it will now focus on what's known as direct lending, or giving loans to midsize companies with no brokers involved.These are safe bets in a downturn, he said, because Blackstone would be a senior creditor in the event of a bankruptcy.Blackstone expects to raise between $10 billion and $12 billion for direct lending by the end of the year, Scott said.