Eventbrite Sells to Bending Spoons in $500 Million All-Cash Deal

Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz, whose company is selling to Bending Spoons. Photo Credit: Eventbrite

Eventbrite has a new owner: Milan-headquartered Bending Spoons, which is acquiring the events platform in a $500 million all-cash deal.

The involved companies just recently unveiled the proposed transaction, which has been given the green light by Eventbrite’s board but is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Bending Spoons, which in October raised $710 million at an $11 billion pre-cash valuation, is expected to pay $4.50 per Eventbrite (NYSE: EB) share. That figure, the parties noted, represents an 82% premium over EB’s 60-day average price. (Technically, though, EB was hovering around the $3.60 mark at 2025’s start, for a comparatively modest 25% premium.)

Of course, the European tech giant didn’t disclose its precise organizational plans for Eventbrite at this early stage; the buyout is tentatively set to wrap during 2026’s opening half.

But Bending Spoons co-founder and CEO Luca Ferrari did provide a worthwhile overview of what’s in store for the selling entity post-acquisition.

According to the exec, the union will “bring even more people together through shared live experiences for many years to come.”

“As longstanding fans,” Ferrari continued, “we’ve identified a few opportunities that we’re excited about exploring with the Eventbrite team after closing the transaction. These include building a dedicated messaging feature, introducing AI for easier event creation, improving searchability, and creating a system for the secondary ticket market.

“We’re committed to investing in Eventbrite for the long run, and hope we’ll be able to help it reach new heights,” he concluded.

On the “long run” front, the Meetup and WeTransfer owner Bending Spoons is apparently in the business of seeing its investments through. By its own description, the nearly 13-year-old operation “aims to hold forever” and “has never sold an acquired business.”

“After each acquisition,” Bending Spoons’ LinkedIn page reads, “we typically invest in an ambitious effort to overhaul the technology, redesign the user interface, accelerate the release of new features, optimize marketing and monetization, and rearchitect the organization for improved long-term performance.”

Regarding the initially highlighted purchase spree: Since September, Bending Spoons has also confirmed deals for AOL and Vimeo, the latter carrying a $1.38 billion price tag.

In remarks of her own, Eventbrite co-founder, CEO, and executive chair Julia Hartz, whose company in September launched an immersive experience division, noted “the speed, resources, and innovative power of Bending Spoons.”

“There has never been a more important time to bring the world together in real life,” Hartz said in part. “As we look ahead, I’m energized by the speed, resources, and innovative power of Bending Spoons to propel Eventbrite into its next chapter.”

Over the summer, Reservoir invested in Len Blavatnik-backed “immersive entertainment company” Lightroom, and Fever scooped up ticketing platform Dice.

Despite the underlying optimism, however, the live and ticketing space hasn’t quite been defined by unbridled enthusiasm in 2025; StubHub’s stock (NYSE: STUB) is now down about 50% since listing in September.