Freshfields advised Bending Spoons on landmark acquisition of Tractive

Global law firm Freshfields advised Bending Spoons, a leading European technology company, on its acquisition of Tractive, a global leader in location tracking and health monitoring for pets. The transaction represents Bending Spoons' first expansion into hardware-enabled software.

Tractive, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Pasching, Austria, has grown from a startup into a world-class organisation serving millions of pet owners worldwide. Bending Spoons — which owns brands such as Evernote, Vimeo, WeTransfer, Eventbrite and Meetup — intends to invest significantly in Tractive for the long run, expanding its health and safety capabilities, developing next-generation devices.

Freshfields provided comprehensive legal advice to Bending Spoons across all aspects of the transaction.

The Freshfields core team was led by Partner Giancarlo D'Ambrosio (Corporate/M&A Milan) and included Partners Konrad Gröller (Vienna), Lars Meyer (Frankfurt), Associate Julius Röck (Vienna), Principal Associate Daniel Roggenkemper (Frankfurt) and Associate Benedikt Mayer (Vienna, all Corporate/M&A).

The wider team included:

Corporate/M&A: Partner Lukas Treichl (Vienna), Counsel Olaf Ehlers (New York), Principal Associate Anna Dominke (Frankfurt), Associate William Björklund (Berlin), Principal Associate Can-Michael Nural (Vienna), Associates Yoosong Lee (New York), Estella Dannhausen and Linda Teichtmeister (both Vienna)

Tax: Partner Katharina Kubik (Vienna), Counsel Umberto Santacroce (Milan), Principal Associate Andreas Langer (Vienna), Associates Andrea Zucchini (Milan) and Rosa Glunz (Associate, Vienna)

Antitrust: Partner Ilka Oberländer (Munich), Associates Isabel García de Paredes (Madrid) and Miriam Swamy-von Zastrow (Munich).

Commercial: Partners Stephan Denk, Lutz Riede, Thomas Kustor, Counsel Lukas Pomaroli, Matthias Hofer, Associate Iris Amschl (Vienna), Principal Associates Kathrin Wildmoser-Zeller, Partner Anna Kohlmaier, Associates Elena Salsi, Julia Wallner, Marcel Neuhauser, Matthias Klonner, Tensin Studer (all Vienna) and Miguel Serrano (Washington)

Employment Law: Partner Karin Buzanich-Sommeregger, Counsel Leonhard Prasser (both, Vienna) and Associates Lorena Faggioli (Frankfurt) and Lina Zhu (New York)