One Week, Three Deals: A $1.3 Billion Software Buyout, a $635 Million Tea Chain Sale, and a Bankrupt Salad Chain

Three unrelated transactions closed out the same week in early August 2026, each large enough to matter in its own sector even though none involves a company most public-market investors hold directly.

Bending Spoons, the Italian app-and-software acquirer that listed on Nasdaq on July 1, 2026, agreed to buy workplace software company Airtable in an all-cash deal at an enterprise value of $1.285 billion, implying an equity value of roughly $2.25 billion. It's the company's first acquisition since going public, following earlier 2026 purchases of internet brand AOL and ticketing platform Eventbrite — continuing an aggressive acquisition pace rather than a one-off deal. Airtable, founded in 2013, combines spreadsheet and database functionality into a platform companies use to build internal tools and manage workflows without writing code; as of June 2026 it had annual recurring revenue of about $480 million, growing more than 20% year over year. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval.

Bain Capital agreed to acquire Gong cha Global, a bubble tea chain with nearly 2,200 stores across 33 markets and leading positions in Japan, Korea, and Australia, from TA Associates for more than $635 million. The deal closes a seven-year investment period for TA, which took a majority stake in Gong cha in 2019 and backed its international expansion. Bain's stated priorities going forward are expanding the store footprint in Japan and South Korea specifically, accelerating franchise development in the United States, and increasing customer engagement through product innovation and loyalty programs. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The third story runs in the opposite direction. Salad and Go, a drive-through salad chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and permanently closed all 70 of its remaining locations, with final service on August 5, 2026. The company had already closed 75 locations in Oklahoma and Texas earlier in the year before this final shutdown. Salad and Go cited rising costs and past growth challenges as underlying pressures, with demand worsened more recently by an industry-wide Cyclospora outbreak. Its bankruptcy filing listed both assets and liabilities in the $500 million-$1 billion range — a large balance sheet for a chain that has now closed every store it operated.