Summary

• Berkshire has agreed to purchase 10 million newly issued Bending Spoons shares at $33 each, subject to closing conditions.
• The placement follows Berkshire's $600 million investment at the company's July 2026 IPO, bringing its total commitment to $930 million.
• Proceeds will support general corporate purposes and acquisitions, alongside existing financing arrangements for the proposed Miro purchase.

Bending Spoons has agreed a further $330 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway, strengthening the Milan software group’s financial position as it continues acquiring established digital businesses and integrating them into a common operating organisation.

Berkshire will purchase 10 million newly issued ordinary shares at $33 each through a private placement, increasing its expected ownership of Bending Spoons to 4%. The agreement follows Berkshire’s $600 million investment at the company’s Nasdaq flotation in July 2026, taking its total committed investment to $930 million if the latest transaction completes.

The placement remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Bending Spoons intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and further acquisitions, although it has not identified a specific new target associated with the investment.

The announcement follows an acquisition programme that has brought Airtable, AOL, Eventbrite, Evernote, Vimeo, WeTransfer and several other established technology businesses into the Italian group’s portfolio. Its operating model involves acquiring products with existing users and revenue before making changes to their technology, organisation and commercial performance.

The strategy requires access to capital, but its long-term economics also depend on the ability to retain customers and improve the businesses after ownership changes. Berkshire’s investment provides additional financial flexibility without resolving the operational risks associated with bringing together companies that serve different markets.

Acquisition funding takes several forms

Bending Spoons completed its purchase of Airtable in September, making the workplace software company its first acquisition since the July listing. Airtable serves organisations using connected data, applications and automated workflows, adding another enterprise technology business to a portfolio that already spans collaboration, media and consumer services.

The group has separately entered into an agreement to acquire collaborative software company Miro at an enterprise value of $1.355 billion. That transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, and Miro continues to operate independently until completion.

In September, Bending Spoons also announced that it had syndicated additional senior secured term loans comprising $1.25 billion in US dollars and €395 million in euros. Those financing arrangements were intended partly to fund the proposed Miro acquisition and repay borrowing under an existing revolving credit facility.

The loans remained subject to final documentation and closing conditions when announced. They should therefore be distinguished from completed acquisitions and the separate Berkshire equity agreement.

Equity financing and borrowing have different consequences for the business. Issuing additional shares dilutes existing investors but does not impose the scheduled interest and repayment obligations associated with conventional debt. Borrowing, meanwhile, can provide acquisition capital without the same immediate dilution, while increasing financial commitments that must be serviced from future cash flows.

Using both instruments can give a consolidator greater flexibility when pursuing multiple transactions. However, the structure of that financing becomes important if acquired businesses generate less cash than expected or integration costs exceed initial assumptions.

Bending Spoons’ recent activity also demonstrates the distinction between raising capital and creating value from it. Completing a purchase gives the company control of an additional product and its customer relationships, but the financial return depends on the subsequent operating performance of that business.

Applying one operating model to different products

Bending Spoons describes its central operating platform as a combination of employees, proprietary technology and data used to support decisions across its businesses. It aims to improve products and financial performance through changes to engineering, organisation, marketing and monetisation.

Established software businesses can offer recurring revenue, recognised brands and large customer bases, reducing some of the uncertainty associated with launching new products. They may also have mature systems, substantial technical debt and contractual commitments that limit how quickly their operations can be changed.

Customers of enterprise applications can be particularly sensitive to alterations in pricing, functionality and support because the software may be embedded in important workflows. Switching suppliers can require changes to integrations, data structures, employee training and procurement arrangements.

For an acquirer, those switching costs can support customer retention, but they can also conceal dissatisfaction until a renewal date or a viable alternative becomes available. Short-term cost reductions therefore need to be considered alongside longer-term product reliability and customer relationships.

Artificial intelligence is part of Bending Spoons’ operating approach, both through features it develops for customers and technology it uses internally. Automation may reduce some engineering or administrative costs, although its commercial contribution depends on whether the resulting products remain dependable and useful.

The group’s businesses also differ substantially in their economics. A collaboration platform sold to enterprises has different purchasing cycles, service obligations and competitive pressures from an online media service or a consumer subscription application.

Applying shared technical capabilities across those businesses may generate efficiencies, while differences in their customers and infrastructure can limit how much standardisation is practical.

Financial flexibility meets integration risk

Berkshire’s proposed 4% holding would make it a significant minority investor rather than a controlling shareholder. The transaction therefore increases Bending Spoons’ available equity capital without transferring operational control of the business to Berkshire.

Its participation may strengthen confidence among other investors and financing providers, but the commercial performance of the acquisition strategy will still depend on revenue, profitability and cash generation across the portfolio.

Those measures are especially relevant as additional businesses are acquired. Financial reports will need to distinguish changes resulting from newly consolidated companies from growth achieved within businesses already owned.

Investors will also be able to examine whether improvements in operating margins are accompanied by stable customer retention, appropriate investment in products and manageable financing costs.

Bending Spoons has publicly emphasised its intention to retain acquired businesses for the long term. That approach places greater importance on sustained product performance than a strategy based primarily on acquiring assets and selling them again.

At the same time, continuing acquisitions can make the organisation increasingly complicated. Each transaction introduces additional employees, systems, contractual arrangements and integration decisions, all of which require management attention while existing businesses continue operating.

The company has not disclosed which acquisition will follow Miro or how much of Berkshire’s latest commitment will be spent on future transactions. The announcement establishes additional financing capacity, rather than a completed extension of the portfolio.

Completion of the private placement is expected before the end of 2026. Bending Spoons will then have to demonstrate how that capital contributes to its wider acquisition programme and whether the resulting businesses deliver sustainable financial returns.