Vimeo Gets RESCUED From Public Markets In All-Cash $1.38B Deal…

“Remember Vimeo?” – Every investor who bought the IPO at $47

Well it appears someone finally swiped right on the video streaming platform. Italian app hoarder Bending Spoons is taking Vimeo private in an all-cash, $1.38B deal… handing shareholders $7.85 per share and a 63% premium over yesterday’s close. Translation: if you were still holding this pandemic relic, you just got bailed out harder than a regional bank in 2023. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Vimeo has been on life support ever since it was spun out of Barry Diller’s IAC in 2021. Shares cratered ~90% as it failed to compete with YouTube, TikTok, or even Zoom’s half-a$$ed video suite. The “YouTube for professionals” pitch never quite worked out when the professionals realized they could just… use YouTube.

(Source: Reuters) 

Which is why now, Bending Spoons, the Milan-based “buy, strip, and flip” machine that already owns Evernote (where notes go to die), WeTransfer (they laid off 75% of staff), and Remini (the app that makes your grandma’s Polaroids look like thirst traps)... is quite literally bending over for this deal. Vimeo is now their biggest trophy. Meaning, expect the usual playbook: layoffs, price hikes, and lots of buzzwords about “streamlined self-service tools.”

Of course, CEO Philip Moyer tried to hype it up with talk of OTT streaming expansion and enterprise growth. But the sad reality here is that this is about squeezing profit out of whatever’s left of Vimeo’s tech stack before selling it again or jamming it into some Frankenstein bundle of productivity apps.

(Source: Giphy) 

Which means… which means… Vimeo’s public chapter is officially over. RIP to one of the last “pandemic darlings” that thought remote work would keep everyone paying for mid-tier video hosting forever. For investors, the silver lining is you don’t have to watch this thing slowly grind to zero; Bending Spoons just handed you the eject button with cash attached. 

As for Bending Spoons, this is just another notch on their M&A belt as they quietly morph into Europe’s answer to Thoma Bravo... except instead of private equity suits, it’s app guys in Milan cutting free tiers and auto-renewing your subscription. In the end, the Vimeo dream is dead, but hey… at least someone was willing to pay up for the body. Shares closed yesterday up 60% on the news… with a price of (I sh*t you not) only $7.74. Until next time, friends…

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News does not hold position in companies mentioned in the article.