Earlier this year, shares of traditional SaaS companies tumbled amid investor fears that software built with AI could eventually displace those businesses. Despite such concerns, Bending Spoons, a company that acquires and revitalizes stagnating but well-known tech firms, saw its shares surge in its market debut.
It closed at $40.50 on Wednesday, nearly 40% above its $29 IPO price. At that price, the 13-year-old Milan, Italy-based company has a market capitalization of $25.7 billion, more than double its last private valuation of $11 billion. The company raised $1.68 billion in its offering.
Bending Spoons has grown rapidly by acquiring aging, but once popular, brands like AOL, Eventbrite, Evernote, Meetup, and Vimeo, then turning them profitable, typically through aggressive cost-cutting, launching new features and raising prices. While the company’s approach is similar to private equity, there is one key difference: Bending Spoons has no plans to sell these businesses.
The company’s disclosed financials show it has indeed turned its growing portfolio of assets profitable. Bending Spoons reported $601 million in revenue for Q1, generating $27.4 million in net income. That’s a significant turnaround from the same period last year, when the company reported a $112 million net loss on $259 million in revenue, according to the SEC filing.
