Bending Spoons has committed to acquiring Eventbrite for $500 million in an effort to rejuvenate the struggling brand

Bending Spoons to Acquire Eventbrite in $500 Million Deal

Bending Spoons, a company known for acquiring and rejuvenating underperforming tech businesses, has reached an agreement to purchase Eventbrite for roughly $500 million. This valuation is significantly lower than Eventbrite’s $1.76 billion market cap at the time of its 2018 IPO.

Similar to its previous takeovers of brands like Evernote, Meetup, Vimeo, and AOL, Bending Spoons is targeting Eventbrite for its well-established name, despite the company’s stagnant growth as reflected in its audited financial statements.

Eventbrite’s Journey and Background

Founded in 2006 by Julia and Kevin Hartz, along with Renaud Visage, Eventbrite made its mark as a leading platform for event management and ticketing. Over its twelve years as a private company, it secured about $330 million in venture funding from prominent investors, including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management.

Bending Spoons’ Unique Investment Approach

Unlike conventional private equity firms, Bending Spoons acquires companies with the intention of long-term ownership. Their strategy focuses on restoring profitability through cost reductions, price adjustments, and the introduction of new features. In October, Bending Spoons completed a substantial $270 million funding round, bringing its valuation to $11 billion.

Industry Trend: Reviving “Venture Zombies”

Bending Spoons is not alone in this approach. Other investors, such as Constellation Software, Curious, Tiny, SaaS.group, Arising Ventures, and Calm Capital, also specialize in acquiring and revitalizing software companies that have lost momentum—often referred to as “venture zombies.”

Andrew Dumont, CEO and founder of Curious, shared with TechCrunch that his firm acquires high-quality businesses at attractive prices and rapidly restores them to achieve profit margins between 20% and 30%.

Financial Details of the Acquisition

Eventbrite’s audited annual revenue remained steady at around $325 million for both fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Bending Spoons is set to pay approximately 1.7 times Eventbrite’s trailing twelve-month revenue of $295 million. While this revenue multiple may appear modest, Eventbrite shareholders are set to receive $4.50 per share in cash—a premium of 81% over the previous day’s closing price of $2.48.