MILAN (Reuters) - NB Renaissance has invested in Milan-based mobile app developer Bending Spoons to help the company expand in a fast-growing market, including through merger and acquisition deals, the private equity firm said on Thursday.
Bending Spoons is one of the world's top app providers with 500 million downloads and 100 million active users a month.
"In securing the deal, NB Renaissance leveraged its strong relationship with Bending Spoons' founding team," it said, adding they had first worked together in 2019 on a potential U.S. acquisition deal.
"(We) have been in close contact ever since...NB Renaissance will thus work alongside the founders to build...a world-class Italian-based tech company and an ideal IPO candidate in a few years."
NB Renaissance did not disclose the size of the investment, saying only it had taken a minority stake, with NBR's senior partner Stefano Bontempelli appointed as member of the board.
Cherry Bay Capital Group, a private equity and wealth advisory firm, also said in a separate statement it had invested in Bending Spoons, which this year targets a doubling of its 2022 revenue of $160 million.
Bending Spoons has attracted some 300 million euros in financing over the last 12 months from top Italian banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo (BIT:ISP) and Banco BPM (LON:0RLA), Cherry Bay said.
With a focus on technology, NB Renaissance's company portfolio includes Engineering, OverIT and Inetum. NB Renaissance is part of Neuberger Berman, a private, independent and employee-owned investment manager with $443 billion of assets under management.