King.com the maker of Candy Crush Saga could be looking at as much as a $7.6 billion valuation in their I.P.O. The Wall Street Journal reported today that the valuation would put King in the big leagues with a valuation rivaling the top video game companies on the market.
Of course King.com has had some negative publicity lately with their attempts to trademark Candy and Saga. Smaller game makers and gamers alike have expressed their displeasure with the company.
From the Wall Street Journal:
King Digital Entertainment PLC, maker of the wildly popular “Candy Crush Saga” game, is targeting a market value of $7.6 billion for its initial public offering set for later this month, a price that would put it in the same league as the world’s leading videogame makers.
The Anglo-Swedish company is planning to offer 22.2 million shares, including 6.7 million shares from top executives and pre-IPO investors, at a price range of between $21 and $24 a share, according to a regulatory filing. That would raise as much as $533 million in proceeds.
One thing King has in its favor over both Zynga and its older rivals, Mr. Baggini said, was that it is already heavily focused on developing games for iPhones and Android devices, for which it has three games among the top five highest-grossing in terms of revenue in the U.S., according to AppAnnie, which tracks app downloads. “That makes it much easier to get global reach and huge size quickly for new games,” Mr. Baggini said.
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