Bending Spoons raises $1 billion in IPO

Bending Spoons raises $1 billion in IPO

Bending Spoons, a holding company for legacy tech brands like AOL and Eventbrite, priced its initial public offering at $29 on Tuesday night, above the previously planned range.

The big picture: The Milan-based company is pitching itself as an acquisition machine, not just an AI-powered software business.

Driving the news: Bending Spoons set terms last week, initially planning to offer 34.4 million shares at $26 to $28 each.

  • A group of shareholders were also selling about 23.6 million shares, from which the company would receive no proceeds. Combined, the IPO raised about $1.68 billion in total.
  • The company, which was valued at $11 billion in an October equity round, is expected to begin trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq under the ticker BSP.
  • Goldman Sachs International, JPMorgan and Allen & Company are leading.

    • Catch up quick: Bending Spoons acquires digital businesses with established brands and customer bases and improves margins through a centralized operating platform.

  • Its portfolio includes more than 50 companies such as Eventbrite, Evernote, Vimeo, AOL, WeTransfer and Meetup, that serve more than 500 million monthly active users.

    • By the numbers: Bending Spoons, founded in 2013, reported revenue of $601.3 million in the first quarter, up from $258.9 million a year earlier. It swung to a net profit of $27.5 million, up from a $112.2 million loss, over that same period.

  • Subscriptions accounted for 93% of revenue in 2025.

    • Follow the money: Bending Spoons raised $710 million in equity at an $11 billion pre-money valuation in October, led by accounts advised by T. Rowe Price.

  • Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity, Foxhaven Asset Management and Radcliff participated.
  • Also in October, the company announced a $2.8 billion debt package to finance its acquisition of AOL and future deals.

    • How it works: Bending Spoons said it intends to own its businesses indefinitely and uses cash flow from acquired companies to fund more deals.

  • In the founders letter, the company said it deployed more than $2 billion capital for acquisitions in the first quarter of 2026, up from $194 million during all of 2023, while maintaining the same internal return hurdles.

    • What to watch: The company said it has identified more than 1,000 potential acquisition targets representing roughly $400 billion in annual revenue.

    Disclosure: Axios was acquired by Cox Enterprises in 2022.