Bending Spoons just went shopping barely a month after going public, and it came home with Airtable. The Italian technology company announced an all-cash deal to acquire the no-code platform at an enterprise value of $1.285 billion, a staggering 89% discount from Airtable’s peak valuation of $11.7 billion in 2021.

The deal mechanics

The acquisition is structured as a 100% share purchase, with the enterprise value pegged at $1.285 billion. When you factor in Airtable’s net cash position, the total equity value climbs to approximately $2.25 billion.

Bending Spoons listed on the Nasdaq on July 1, 2026, raising roughly $1.68 billion with shares priced at $29. The deal is expected to close later in 2026, pending the usual regulatory approvals. Bending Spoons reported $1.31 billion in revenue for 2025, meaning it’s buying a company at roughly 1x its own annual revenue.

Airtable, founded in 2013 by Howie Liu, built itself into a collaborative database and workflow platform used by over 500,000 companies globally. The company raised more than $1.4 billion in total funding during its private life.

The Bending Spoons playbook

Bending Spoons has previously acquired well-known brands like AOL and Eventbrite, applying a combination of AI-driven product enhancements and aggressive cost-cutting.

What this means for investors watching tech M&A

Airtable raised over $1.4 billion at a peak valuation of $11.7 billion. Selling for an enterprise value of $1.285 billion means the company’s value declined by roughly 89% from peak.

Bending Spoons went public on July 1 and announced this deal roughly a month later. That suggests the acquisition was likely in negotiation well before the IPO, with the public listing essentially serving as a financing mechanism for the M&A strategy. Investors who bought into the IPO at $29 per share were, in effect, bankrolling this purchase.