King Digital Entertainment, the British developer of mobile phone puzzle game ‘Candy Crush Saga’, would be valued at $7.08bn after it goes public today, with its initial public offering (IPO) priced at priced at $22.50 per share.
The British game developer’s 22.2 million shares offering would raise nearly $500m at that price range, which is at the average of its intended price range of $21-$24.
King would sell 15.3 million shares in the offering with the remaining being provided through the sale of stockholders, which include Apax Ventures.
In February 2014, the gaming firm filed for US IPO, in a bid to raise $500m for operational capital and acquisitions, and claimed that only a some of its games currently make majority of revenue.
Upon going public, the company’s CEO Riccardo Zacconi would receive over $500m from his 10% share, while the largest investor Apax Partners could receive around $2bn from its 45% stake.
Established in 2003, the British mobile gaming firm offers 150 games in 14 languages via mobile phones, Facebook as well through its website, while boasts a billion gameplays per day from its users.
King Digital reported 7,000% rise in profits 2013 and its revenue and net profit reached $1.88bn and $567.6m, compared to $164.4m and $7.8m generated respectively in 2012.
