King Digital Entertainment Plc, the Dublin-based mobile game developer behind the successful puzzle game Candy Crush Saga, has announced its application for initial public offering in the United States, hoping to raise up to $500 million.
The company has filed for an IPO confidentially (withholding its current financial status) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September last year under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, similar to how Twitter applied for its IPO.
King has over 180 games in 14 languages in its stable, which can be played on mobile devices, Facebook, and its own website. The company says its games are played over 1 billion times daily.
Candy Crush Saga, wherein players move candies and line up three of them in the same color, was the most downloaded free app last year with over 500 million downloads since its launch in 2012. It was also the top revenue-grossing app, with millions of players paying up for elements that would bring an advantage to the game such as add-ons and extra lives.
Reuters reports that JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and BofA Merrill Lynch are some of King’s lead underwriters.
Once its IPO gets approved, the company plans on listing its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange using the symbol “KING”.
Source: Reuters
