--- title: "Bending Spoons borrows $1.5 billion it will not guarantee, for deals that do not exist yet" description: "Bending Spoons' $1.5 billion of senior secured notes are issued by subsidiaries the Milan parent will not guarantee, to fund acquisitions it has not named. Repayment depends on the cash thrown off by the brands it already owns." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Deals" published: 2026-10-27T13:05:02.787Z modified: 2026-10-27T13:05:02.787Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/bending-spoons-borrows-1-5-billion-it-will-not-guarantee-for-deals-that-do-not-exist-yet language: en keywords: "Bending Spoons, Debt Financing, Acquisitions, Software" --- # Bending Spoons borrows $1.5 billion it will not guarantee, for deals that do not exist yet > Bending Spoons' $1.5 billion of senior secured notes are issued by subsidiaries the Milan parent will not guarantee, to fund acquisitions it has not named. Repayment depends on the cash thrown off by the brands it already owns. [Bending Spoons](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bending-spoons) is asking bond investors for [$1.5 billion of senior secured notes](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/27/3388724/0/en/bending-spoons-announces-proposed-offering-of-senior-secured-notes.html) due 2032 to pay for acquisitions it has not named [1]. The structure tells you how much the company trusts its own machine: the dollar tranche is issued by a Delaware subsidiary, the euro tranche by an Italian one, and the Milan parent, in its own words, "will not issue or guarantee the Notes" [1]. The notes are secured, meaning backed by the issuing subsidiaries' assets and first in line ahead of shareholders, and the lenders sit on companies that exist to hold the brands while the parent signs nothing [1]. *Chart: **Debt reached $4.9 billion by June, before the new $1.5 billion notes** Column chart of Bending Spoons' reported total debt rising from $0.39 billion at the end of 2023 to $4.88 billion in June 2026* *Reported total debt, US$ billions, at fiscal year-ends and the two most recent reported quarters, from Bending Spoons' SEC filings. The $1.5 billion notes proposed on October 27, 2026, are not yet issued. [2]* ## The borrowing is compounding faster than the portfolio Reported group debt reached $4.9 billion at the end of June, from $0.4 billion at the end of 2023 [2]. [September's term loan add-ons](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-successfully-syndicates-upsized-183100568.html), $1.25 billion of dollars and €395 million of euros, paid for an agreed deal: [Miro](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/miro), which [closed on Monday](https://thenextweb.com/news/bending-spoons-completes-miro-deal) at a $1.355 billion enterprise value [3][4]. [Airtable](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/airtable) cost $1.28 billion in August [9]. Tuesday's notes are different in kind, because the release names no target at all, only "future acquisitions" [1]. That is pre-funding: bondholders hand over cash today against deals the company hopes to find. ## The repayment comes from outside the bond Servicing that debt falls on brands already bought. Airtable is losing a large portion of its roughly 800 pre-acquisition staff, with most departures inside a week of the announcement [6]. [Vimeo On Demand closes on November 20](https://theinference.org/article/bending-spoons-shuts-vimeo-on-demand-on-november-20-and-buyers-lose-films-they-paid-for), and on that date viewers lose access to films they bought or rented [7]. This is the method, not a side effect: Bending Spoons buys discounted software businesses, trims staff, streamlines products and pushes monetization until earnings expand [8][9]. [Berkshire Hathaway](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/berkshire-hathaway), which has [put $930 million into the stock since the July IPO](https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/10/17/warren-buffett-greg-abel-bending-spoons-buy/), now sits behind the new secured creditors [8]. ## The coupon prices what the parent would not guarantee Interest rates and issue prices are set at pricing in the coming days [1], days after [Moody's](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/moody-s) and S&P [lifted the group to Ba3 and BB-](https://theinference.org/article/raters-lift-bending-spoons-debt-to-bb-while-the-number-that-tests-its-28b-value-stays-hidden) [3]. The rate will be the market's price on one proposition: that subscribers to [Evernote](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/evernote), [Vimeo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vimeo), Miro and Airtable keep paying faster than the cuts and closures push them out. Second-quarter revenue of $704 million, up 126 percent, says they have so far [2]. Whoever buys the notes is underwriting that the users stay. The parent has declined to underwrite it itself. ## Takeaway Bending Spoons is raising $1.5 billion of secured notes through subsidiaries its parent will not guarantee, to pre-fund acquisitions it has not named; repayment rides on Evernote, Vimeo, Miro and Airtable subscribers staying through the cuts. ## Sources 1. [GlobeNewswire, Bending Spoons announces proposed offering of senior secured notes, 27 October 2026](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/27/3388724/0/en/bending-spoons-announces-proposed-offering-of-senior-secured-notes.html) 2. [Bending Spoons, quarterly figures from its SEC filings (CIK 0002004711), retrieved 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0002004711) 3. [Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Bending Spoons successfully syndicates upsized term loan B add-ons, 25 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-successfully-syndicates-upsized-183100568.html) 4. [The Next Web, Bending Spoons completes its $1.355bn Miro acquisition, 26 October 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/bending-spoons-completes-miro-deal) 6. [Hoodline, Airtable Guts Pre-Acquisition Staff Weeks After $1.3B San Francisco Sale, 14 October 2026](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/airtable-guts-pre-acquisition-staff-weeks-after-1-3b-san-francisco-sale/) 7. [PRWeb (Curios), Curios Launches Video-on-Demand Tools for Filmmakers as Vimeo On Demand Shuts Down, 23 October 2026](https://www.prweb.com/releases/curios-launches-video-on-demand-tools-for-filmmakers-as-vimeo-on-demand-shuts-down-302917739.html) 8. [The Motley Fool, Meet Warren Buffett Successor Greg Abel's Newest Investment: Bending Spoons, 17 October 2026](https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/10/17/warren-buffett-greg-abel-bending-spoons-buy/) 9. [TechCrunch, Bending Spoons to buy Airtable for $1.28B, 4 August 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/bending-spoons-to-buy-airtable-for-1-28b/) --- Bending Spoons borrows $1.5 billion it will not guarantee, for deals that do not exist yet — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/bending-spoons-borrows-1-5-billion-it-will-not-guarantee-for-deals-that-do-not-exist-yet