Milan-based Bending Spoons Raises $1.68B in IPO to Continue Acquisitions Spree

The Milan-based technology company Bending Spoons, known for its strategy of acquiring and fundamentally transforming established software companies, is preparing its IPO on the Nasdaq. With a valuation of approximately $18.4 billion, the company is positioning itself as a major new player in the digital brand market.

Bending Spoons S.p.A. has announced the pricing for its initial public offering (IPO). The shares have been set at a price of $29.00 per share, which is above the original trading range of $26 to $28. A total of around 58 million shares are being offered, of which approximately 34.4 million are newly issued shares of the company, while the remainder is being sold by existing shareholders.

Through this IPO, the company aims to raise approximately $1.68 billion in capital. Trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “BSP” is expected to begin immediately following the completion of the offering.

A Hybrid Strategy: Private Equity Meets Technology

Bending Spoons’ business strategy differs fundamentally from current trends in Silicon Valley. While the majority of capital is currently concentrated on highly speculative AI startups, the Milan-based firm is betting on the value of established, but often stagnating, internet brands.

CEO Luca Ferrari describes the company’s model as a hybrid: “Our idea is to be a mix between a private equity firm and Google.” The goal is to identify companies with large, loyal user bases whose technological edge has been lost due to the rapid changes in the software market, yet which still possess significant revenue streams.

Since November of last year, Bending Spoons has already invested approximately $4 billion in targeted acquisitions. Among the most prominent names in its portfolio are internet pioneer AOL, which was acquired for $1.5 billion, as well as the video platform Vimeo, the note-taking service Evernote, the ticketing provider Eventbrite, as well as WeTransfer and Brightcove. A significant strategic acquisition in Europe was also the takeover of the Austrian company Tractive, for which Bending Spoons provided around $900 million.

Profitability Through Technological Transformation and AI

The success of the model depends on the company’s ability to radically restructure the acquired brands. The process follows a three-step plan: acquisition, transformation, and reinvestment.

During the transformation phase, Bending Spoons focuses on deep optimization. This often includes personnel restructuring to reduce operating costs, as well as adjustments to pricing models to increase monetization. In parallel, a highly specialized team of engineers—known internally as “Spooners”—handles the technical modernization of the products.

A central pillar of this strategy is the massive use of Artificial Intelligence. Bending Spoons uses AI not only as a tool for increasing internal efficiency but as a core component of product development. The goal is to bring the acquired companies up to date technologically through AI-powered features, improve the user experience, and thus make the products highly profitable once again. With the new capital from the IPO, the company plans to continue this cycle and work through its list of over 1,000 potential acquisitions.

In the case of Tractive, this transformation meant that more than 50% of the workforce was laid off just a few months after the takeover.