Bending Spoons picks banks for $20B US IPO — Europe’s acquisition machine heads to Wall Street
What’s the deal? Bending Spoons, the Milan-based tech conglomerate that revives underperforming digital platforms, has selected Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, JPMorganDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Allen & CoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Bank of AmericaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BNP Paribas, and JefferiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to organise a potential US IPO that could value the company at around $20B. The listing is expected in the coming months, possibly before summer 2026, subject to market conditions.
The company was last valued at roughly $11B in an October 2025 round that raised $710M. A $20B IPO would represent an 80% jump in less than a year.
Why now? Bending Spoons operates more like a private equity firm than a traditional software company. It acquires established but underperforming digital platforms, restructures them aggressively, and manages them as a unified portfolio at scale. Its acquisitions include Vimeo, WeTransfer, Evernote, Eventbrite, and the web portal AOLDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The numbers are striking. CEO Luca FerrariDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → told Reuters in November 2025 that the company expected adjusted EBITDA to reach $1.4B in 2026, up from $700M in 2025 — a doubling driven by recent acquisitions. Bending Spoons’ platforms serve over one billion people, with 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers, including many Fortune 500 companies.
Ferrari has been signalling a US listing for over a year, citing the higher valuations that technology companies typically command on American exchanges. With IPO markets regaining traction after a brief slowdown in March 2026, the timing appears right.
What could go wrong? The acquisition-led model depends on a continuous pipeline of targets and the ability to extract value through restructuring. That typically means cutting headcount and streamlining operations — a process that has drawn criticism at some acquired companies. If the pipeline slows or integration stumbles, growth could stall quickly.
Market conditions remain uncertain. The Iran-related volatility that disrupted IPO plans in March 2026 could resurface. Bending Spoons will also want to avoid overlapping with some of the trillion-dollar names planning to list, such as SpaceX, which could absorb investor attention.
At $20B, the implied valuation multiple is approximately 14x 2026 expected EBITDA. That is a premium multiple for what is essentially an acquisition roll-up, and public market investors may scrutinise the sustainability of EBITDA growth once the pace of acquisitions normalises.
The signal: Bending Spoons is the most unconventional European tech IPO candidate in years. It is not a SaaS company, not a marketplace, and not an AI lab — it is an operator that buys forgotten brands and makes them profitable. The fact that it can command $20B on Wall Street suggests public markets are ready to reward operational efficiency and cash generation, not just growth at all costs.
For the European tech ecosystem, this would be a landmark. A Milan-based company — named after a scene in The Matrix — listing in the US at $20B would be one of the largest European tech IPOs in recent history, and proof that Europe can build globally significant tech companies outside the traditional venture-backed playbook.
Sources:
Reuters
TechFundingNews
Image credit:
Bending Spoons
J.V.
