Candy Crush Maker IPO Already Beating Zynga Valuation

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Wednesday, the makers of the popular smartphone game Candy Crush Saga filed for an initial public offering. Dublin-based King Digital Entertainment plans to offer more than 22 million shares, priced at $21 to $24 each.

Some 15.5 million shares will come from the company, which expects to receive around $326 million from the offering. Existing shareholders will sell the balance of the shares. King Digital said it plans to use the funds for working capital and acquisitions. It has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KING.

Based on these estimates, King Digital’s implied market capitalization would fall between about $6.6 billion to $7.6 billion. Rival mobile game developer Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), which held its IPO in 2011, currently has a market cap just shy of $5 billion.

According to the filing, Apax Partners, the private-equity firm that owns the largest stake in the company, will see that stake fall from 48% to 44% after the offering.

Zynga shares were up fractionally in premarket trading to $5.66. Its 52-week range is $2.50 to $5.89.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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