Bending Spoons, the Milan-based software group that owns the video platform Vimeo and the internet services company AOL, priced its U.S. initial public offering at $29 per share on Tuesday, above the range marketed to investors. The offering raised $1.68 billion through the sale of roughly 58 million shares, making it one of the larger European company listings this year.
The shares had been marketed between $26 and $28 apiece prior to the final pricing. In its most recent private funding round in 2025, the company carried an $11 billion valuation.
The company, whose name was inspired by a scene in the film The Matrix, has built a high-profile position in Europe by acquiring underperforming software businesses and undertaking comprehensive turnarounds. Recent acquisitions include the note-taking app Evernote, the file-sharing platform WeTransfer, the video-hosting service Vimeo, streaming technology firm Brightcove, the social networking site Meetup, and the web portal AOL.
Bending Spoons’ chief executive and co-founder, Luca Ferrari, who established the business in 2013, has described the group's approach as a hybrid between a private equity fund and a technology company such as Alphabet’s Google. Ferrari is frequently seen at the company's central Milan headquarters in casual attire, often wearing sneakers and oversized hoodies.
Though the company follows an acquisition-led model similar in some respects to private equity, it differs from that approach in one material way: Bending Spoons does not resell the firms it buys. Nevertheless, its acquisitions have commonly been accompanied by deep restructuring and significant reductions in staff.
The IPO will list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "BSP" and the shares are expected to begin trading on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, and Allen & Co served as the lead underwriters for the offering.
The deal arrives amid a revival in U.S. initial public offering activity after a prolonged slowdown. Recent high-profile listings, including record-sized debut by a space company earlier this month and a listing from a chipmaker earlier in the year, underscore an uptick in headline technology offerings. The software sector, meanwhile, is confronting disruption from advances in artificial intelligence, a development referenced in market commentary on the industry's current environment.
Market context
Investors bidding above the marketed range indicates demand sufficient to lift pricing to $29 per share for this offering. Coming at a time when the U.S. IPO market has begun to regain momentum, Bending Spoons’ listing represents one of the more sizable public raises for a European technology company so far this year.
What the company does
- Bending Spoons acquires underperforming software assets and conducts extensive overhauls rather than selling them on.
- Its portfolio includes several recognizable digital brands such as Evernote, WeTransfer, Vimeo, Brightcove, Meetup and AOL.