- Bending Spoons acquires Eventbrite for $500 million to revive operations
- Purchase price reflects steep decline from Eventbrite’s 2018 IPO
- Eventbrite shareholders immediately receive $4.50 per share, an 81% premium
Bending Spoons has agreed to acquire Eventbrite for approximately $500 million, marking a new addition to its portfolio of well-known but stalled software companies.
The purchase price is well below Eventbrite’s $1.76 billion valuation at its 2018 IPO, which reflected years of stagnant revenue and slowing growth.
The company intends to relaunch the brand by implementing operational changes similar to previous acquisitions, including Evernote, Meetup, Vimeo and AOL.
Transaction conditions and impact for investors
Audited financial statements show that Eventbrite’s annual revenue remained stable at approximately $325 million for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
This stagnant performance necessitated intervention to restore Eventbrite’s growth trajectory.
The deal gives Eventbrite shareholders $4.50 per share in cash, representing an 81 percent premium to the previous day’s closing price of $2.48.
Bending Spoons values Eventbrite at about 1.7 times its trailing twelve-month revenue of $295 million.
While this multiple seems low compared to high-growth technology acquisitions, the structure reflects the company’s intention to focus on profitability rather than rapid expansion.
Eventbrite shareholders achieve immediate returns, while Bending Spoons positions itself to manage long-term operations without pressure from external exits or short-term investment horizons.
Bending Spoons follows a model of acquiring companies with strong brands but stagnant business performance.
Unlike traditional private equity firms, the company plans to keep Eventbrite indefinitely.
Its goal is to increase profitability through operational efficiency, cost reduction, price adjustment and improved product functionality.
This strategy mirrors approaches used by other investors in similar “venture zombie” companies.
Examples include Constellation Software, Curious, Tiny, SaaS.group, Arising Ventures and Calm Capital.
According to Andrew Dumont, founder of Curious, these firms buy low-valuation companies and quickly scale them to target profit margins of 20 to 30 percent.
Eventbrite’s history as a private company includes raising approximately $330 million in venture capital from high-profile investors such as Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management.
Bending Spoons’ recent $270 million funding round valued the company at $11 billion, giving it substantial capital resources to support acquisitions.
Eventbrite’s established presence in the events and ticketing market gives Bending Spoons a brand to leverage.
The company plans to implement operational changes, including cost management, pricing strategies and product enhancements, to improve performance.
That said, it remains unclear how quickly these measures can produce meaningful results, given the complexity of restarting a stalled business.
Via TechCrunch
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