Berkshire Hathaway is buying 10 million new Bending Spoons shares at $33 each. The Milan-based company announced the deal on 14 October. The $330m private placement adds to the $600m Berkshire invested at Bending Spoons’ Nasdaq listing in July.
The two investments give Berkshire a 4% stake, Bending Spoons said. Its businesses include AOL, Vimeo, Evernote, Eventbrite, WeTransfer and Airtable. The deal still has to meet customary closing conditions. More details will follow in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“For decades now, Berkshire Hathaway has been among the finest and most respected capital allocators in the world, and is a longstanding inspiration for Bending Spoons.” Luca Ferrari, Bending Spoons CEO and co-founder, in a statement
Money for more deals
Co-founder Francesco Patarnello, who leads acquisitions, said the investment will give Bending Spoons more financial flexibility to buy companies.
“Bending Spoons continuously evaluates M&A opportunities, and our pipeline remains strong.” Francesco Patarnello, in a statement
The company agreed to buy Airtable in August and signed a deal for Miro in September. On 12 October, it said a large part of Airtable’s pre-acquisition team would leave. They will get “substantial separation packages”, CJ Haddad reported for CNBC.
Ferrari told CNBC on 15 October that Bending Spoons uses profits from its businesses to grow. The “overwhelming majority” of that growth comes from doing more deals, he said.
The share price
Bending Spoons’ shares closed up 41% at $53.46 on the day of the announcement, after touching $58.56. Berkshire’s $33 price was about 12% below the previous close of $37.86. Alex Crippen gave the figures in CNBC’s Warren Buffett Watch newsletter. By 16 October the stock had fallen back to $47.07.
The release appears to be the first disclosure of Berkshire’s $600m IPO investment, according to Crippen. Bending Spoons would not confirm how many shares Berkshire bought in July. The new stake makes Berkshire the company’s sixth-largest investor, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data.
Analysts at Mizuho called the deal another vote of confidence in the Bending Spoons model, CNBC reported. In Barron’s, quoted by CNBC, Andrew Bary wrote that Bending Spoons “was a surprise”. He pointed to its high valuation.
Greg Abel took over from Warren Buffett as CEO this year. Under Abel, Berkshire has increased its exposure to technology companies and AI, according to Reuters.
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