VC-backed King files for $500m IPO

Apax Partners and Index Ventures are both backers of the company. Apax backed King in September 2005 when the company was called Midasplayer - it changed its name to King the following November. According to unquote" data, Apax and Index Ventures invested €34m in the business in exchange for minority stakes.

According to the company's F-1 filing with the SEC, Apax is King's largest shareholder with a total of 57.7 million shares owned, equivalent to a 48.2% stake. Index currently holds close to 10 million shares, equating to a shareholding of 8.3%.

JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been appointed lead underwriters for the flotation. The company intends to list its shares on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "KING".

King was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Dublin with a development centre in Stockholm, Sweden. It currently employs approximately 400 staff.

The company has experienced substantial growth in the last few years, predominantly due to the release of its Candy Crush Saga game. Revenues have leapt from $22m in the first quarter of 2012 and $70m in the fourth quarter of 2012 to $602m in the fourth quarter of 2013. Likewise, adjusted EBITDA has increased from $6m in Q1 2012 and $11m in Q4 2012 to $269m in Q4 2013.

Total revenues for 2013 stood at slightly less than $1.9bn - up from $164.4m generated in 2012 - while adjusted EBITDA for 2013 reached $824.7m with a 44% margin (adjusted EBITDA for 2012: $28.4m with 17% margin).

The company's website, King.com, is available in nine languages and seven currencies. King's CEO is co-founder Riccardo Zacconi.

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• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Technology
• IPO
• Apax Partners
• Index Ventures
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