The technology group based in Milan, Bending Spoons, was listed in NASDAQ this week, and the stock price rose on the first day, at a market value of over $25 billion. Despite subsequent setbacks, the company ' s current valuation is significantly higher than the private market valuation of approximately $11 billion prior to listing, indicating that investors are still in detention for their merger consolidation model.

The company has received attention over the past few years for the continuous acquisition of well-known Internet products, and its portfolio has included brands AOL, Vimeo, WeTransfer, Meetup, Eventbrite, etc. According to the listing documents submitted by the company, by March 2026, its product portfolio had more than 500 million live users per month and paid more than 9 million per month.

Relying on the scale of acquisition expansion

The starting point for Bending Spoons is not obvious. The company was first developed by a team that continued to work after a failed start-up, using its own applications, then moving towards the acquisition of mature digital products and towards a standardized integration path.

The company ' s core approach is to look for products that still have a real user base, but where the original owner ' s growth slows down or operates under pressure, and to harmonize products, works, data, commercialization and organizational structure once acquired. TechCrunch quoted the statement that the company did not hold passive assets, but that it would move quickly after taking over.

I've been buying famous brands for years.

In the past two years, the M&A tempo has accelerated significantly, with more interesting transactions including:

  • 2023 Acquisition note application Evernote
  • Acquisition of Issuu, WeTransfer and Meetup assets in 2024
  • In 2025, the Vimeo, AOL, Eventbrite, etc.

Of this amount, Vimeo acquired $1.38 billion and Eventbrite traded approximately $500 billion. Brightcove ' s privatization deal was $233 million. It is mentioned that, following the completion of some acquisitions, companies have adjusted their free programmes, pricing and team size, which has also led to ongoing discussions on their “efficiency priorities” model.

AI works as a sales point.

In terms of financial performance, Bending Spoons received $1.31 billion annually in 2025. According to the company, the progress of the AI tool has helped it to improve per capita output. As disclosed, the per capita income of core staff increased from $1.12 million in 2023 to $2.57 million in 2025.

However, this model is accompanied by significant staff reductions. The company indicated that, through the acquisition of AOL, Eventbrite and Vimeo, some 1830 new full-time employees had been included, but that a significant proportion of those posts had been abolished during the integration process, and that it was expected that by late 2026 only hundreds of people would have been retained after the three operations had been completed.

M & As will continue after listing

According to Bending Spoons, in 2025 the company screened more than 2,500 potential acquisition opportunities, of which approximately 200 were analysed in depth and six transactions were finalized. The company also states that more than 1,000 digital business targets that may be attractive in the future have been identified.

This means that the listing has not changed its expansion path. The market is now more concerned about whether the “acquisition of mature products — centralized adaptation — to increase profitability” model can continue in larger volumes.