Berkshire Hathaway has deepened its bet on Bending Spoons, the Italian app developer behind products such as WeTransfer and Remini. The conglomerate agreed on Oct. 14 to invest an additional $330 million, following a $600 million commitment made at the company's July initial public offering. According to Bending Spoons, the new capital lifts Berkshire's ownership stake to 4%.
Shareholders reacted enthusiastically, driving the stock up more than 40% on Wednesday. Yet Berkshire's willingness to write another check does not automatically translate into an attractive entry point for ordinary investors. In fact, the structure of the deal contains several features that argue for caution rather than imitation.
The price Berkshire negotiated tells its own story
Under the agreement, Bending Spoons will issue 10 million new shares to Berkshire at $33 apiece, with the closing expected in the final quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions. That negotiated price sits roughly 40% below where the stock currently trades. Anyone buying BSP today is therefore paying a substantial premium to what Berkshire — a patient, well-advised, long-horizon investor — was willing to accept.
The mechanics of the transaction also deserve attention. Once those additional shares are issued, the ownership percentage of existing investors will shrink unless they purchase more stock themselves. Dilution is not automatically destructive: the fresh capital gives Bending Spoons room to finance acquisitions that could generate additional earnings. The open question is whether those future earnings will be large enough to offset the larger share count. Investors should not assume the answer is yes simply because Berkshire structured a deal it finds appealing.
Growth is coming from acquisitions, not the core
The operating results offer a second reason for restraint. Bending Spoons' second-quarter revenue more than doubled to $704 million, but acquisitions accounted for the bulk of that expansion. Organic revenue growth was just 3%, with declining revenue at Remini and Splice partly offsetting contributions from Tractive and WeTransfer.
That distinction matters. Buying revenue requires capital and successful integration; it does not demonstrate that demand across the existing product portfolio is equally strong. The company is genuinely profitable — second-quarter operating income reached $240 million — but acquisition financing also contributed to a $73 million year-over-year increase in interest expense. The picture that emerges is of an effective but demanding acquisition machine.
Valuation leaves little room for error
Following Wednesday's sharp rally, Bending Spoons trades at nearly 10 times forward sales and about 30 times projected 2027 earnings. Those multiples require investors to pay today for substantial future execution. A premium can be justified when an acquirer repeatedly converts overlooked businesses into durable earnings streams, but it also makes disappointment expensive. Even growing profits may fail to support the share price if investors decide to pay a lower multiple.
For retail investors, the sensible posture is patience. A valuation that provides a clearer cushion against execution mistakes would be a more reasonable starting point. Berkshire's involvement makes Bending Spoons worth studying closely; it does not establish that the price available in the open market offers an attractive prospective return.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
