Bending Spoons Acquires Video Streaming Company Brightcove for $233 Million

Brightcove Inc.a cloud platform that helps businesses manage hosting, publishing and delivering video on demand, announced today that it is being acquired by an Italian mobile technology company Bending Spoons SpA in a deal worth $233 million.

Under the agreement, Brightcove shareholders will receive $4.46 per share in cash, representing a 90% premium over the company’s 60-day average.

Brightcove is best known for providing video on demand for both live broadcasts and catalogs that can be presented to viewers. and also ways to monetize streaming video for business. It also provides the tools and infrastructure needed to create players similar to television channels so that end users can experience high fidelity video and great service. On the back end, it combines digital rights management to control viewing rights and high-level data analytics to allow users to understand how their video is being used.

Founded in 2013 and based in Milan, Italy, Bending Spoons is best known for the mobile apps it develops and acquires. One of the notable acquisitions made by the company was Evernote Company.a company founded in 2000 that essentially offers a note-taking and collaboration app consisting of virtual notepads. Bending Spoons completed the deal in 2023.

In 2024, the company made a number of acquisitions. In January Bending Spoons purchased Meetupsocial network for organizing personal and virtual meetings, and in April the company acquired StreamYard Top Corp.originally known as Hopin, a popular live streaming and video recording platform.. In July, the company acquired a digital publishing platform. Issuu Inc. and agreed to purchase a Dutch file transfer service. VeTransfer B.V.

Upon completion of the transaction, Brightcove will become a private company.

“Brightcove is an iconic and successful SaaS leader with a 20-year history, 12 of which as a public company. We have been a pioneer and innovator in the streaming market, from the early days of video player technology to the leading video experience platform we are today,” said Mark DeBevoise, CEO and board member of Brightcove.

Luca Ferrari, CEO and co-founder of Bending Spoons, welcomed Brightcove and said: “Brightcove is a trusted and respected name in streaming technology and we look forward to serving its large global customer base. When Bending Spoons acquires a business, we do so with the intention of owning and operating it indefinitely.”

However, Bending Spoons is also known for significant layoffs following acquisitions. Following the acquisition, Evernote laid off 129 of its 400 employees and moved all staff to Europe. The company also released 75% of WeTransfer employees in September.

Image: Pixabay