Investors anticipate Zynga to be worth $7 billion to $9 billion
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Zynga Inc., whose initial public offering has been widely anticipated by investors, is expected to hit the road Monday to begin selling its story to potential buyers, according to people with knowledge of the social gaming giant’s plans.
The San Francisco company is expected to price its shares between $8 and $10, giving the firm a valuation of between $7 billion and $9 billion. Zynga’s games on Facebook draw more than 150 million players a month.
Zynga declined to comment on its IPO.
In July, Zynga filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pave the way for its offering. Ordinarily, companies begin selling shares within three months or so. But stock market convulsions have kept Zynga and other pending IPOs at bay as they await more favorable market conditions.
While the market remains extremely volatile, Zynga may have taken its cue from online coupon service Groupon, which pulled the trigger on its IPO earlier this month. Groupon scored a $12.7-billion valuation, the second-highest amount for a technology company since Google Inc. went public in 2004.
Perhaps Zynga believes that investors will be more amenable to its pitch about why the company deserves such a high valuation, which is about twice as much as the $4.3-billion market value LinkedIn Corp. had when it debuted in May.
Once Zynga officials launch their road show to potential institutional investors, the company is likely to begin selling its shares within two weeks.
RELATED:
Social game players make friends while Zynga makes money
Groupon IPO: Highest tech valuation since Google
— Alex Pham