VC-backed King prices IPO, valued at $7.5bn

Ellie Pullen
13 March 2014

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VC-backed King Digital Entertainment, the maker of the Candy Crush Saga game, has been given a market cap of up to $7.5bn after pricing shares for its IPO at $21-24 apiece.

King will sell 25.53 million shares in its IPO, meaning the firm could raise up to $612.72m at the top end of the indicative price range.

Approximately 6.6 million shares are being sold by existing shareholders in the company, which include Apax Partners and Index Ventures, with a further 15.5 million being offered by King.

An additional 3.33 million shares from the selling shareholders are being offered to the underwriters as an overallotment option.

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 invested €34m in the business in exchange for minority stakes.

Apax is King's largest shareholder with a 48.2% stake, which is to be reduced to 44.8% following the offering or 44.2% if the overallotment option is exercised in full. Index's 8.3% shareholding will be reduced to 7.8%, or 7.7% with full exercise of the overallotment option.

According to King's F-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Apax is selling approximately 3.3 million shares plus a further 1.7 million for the overallotment option. This would mean the firm could net up to $121.7m in the offering.

Index is selling around 583,000 shares plus a further 295,000 for the overallotment option, meaning it stands to make up to $21m.

The company filed for its IPO last month. JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been appointed lead underwriters for the flotation. King 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.