FILE PHOTO: Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari poses for a portrait in Milan, Italy, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
(Reuters) - Video platform Vimeo, whose popularity surged during the pandemic, said on Wednesday it will be acquired by Italian app developer Bending Spoons for about $1.38 billion, a deal that would take it private after more than four years of its debut.
Vimeo shareholders will get $7.85 in cash for each share owned — implying a 63% premium to the stock's last close. Its shares jumped more than 60% to $7.74.
The company, spun off from American media executive and entrepreneur Barry Diller's IAC, has lost around 90% of its market value since it went public in 2021. It has struggled to stand out in a crowded video market, where YouTube dominates the audience and smaller, often cheaper rivals compete aggressively for professional and enterprise clients.
"Once the deal gets approved, we should expect to see significant cost-cutting measures implemented and a razor-sharp focus on revenue generation by leveraging Vimeo's technology assets," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.
Bending Spoons' business model centers on revamping and developing firms and products they acquire. It had bought file-sharing service WeTransfer in July last year. Its acquisition of Vimeo marks the largest deal in the company's history.
The Milan-based firm, which owns services such as note-taking tool Evernote and photo editor Remini, plans to expand self-service tools, OTT streaming via Vimeo Streaming, and enterprise offerings, Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer said.
Vimeo recently announced job cuts of nearly 10% of its full-time employees, after its previous lay-off rounds of 11% in 2023 and 6% in 2022.
Allen & Company LLC is the financial adviser for Vimeo on the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo and BNP advised Bending Spoons — which, according to bankers, is a candidate for an IPO in the U.S. market.
In a funding round last year, Bending Spoons was valued at $2.55 billion. It raised 500 million euros in venture debt to fund its M&A plans.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Elvira Pollina in Milan; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Shilpi Majumdar)
