ZYNGA gets priced at the high end of its range:
Zynga Raise $1 Billion in I.P.O.
By EVELYN M. RUSLI
DealBook
New York Times
December 15, 2011, 5:12 pm
The virtual cow is the cash cow of Wall Street.
On Thursday, Zynga, the creator of online farms, poker tables, and kingdoms, priced its initial public offering at $10 a share, at the top end of its expected range. The offering, which raised $1 billion, values the online gaming company at $7 billion.
The highly anticipated I.P.O. — the largest for a U.S. Internet company since Google — marks a critical milestone for the larger social gaming industry, solidifying the legitimacy of a business model once mocked by investors. At $7 billion, Zynga rivals traditional gaming companies like Electronic Arts, which still makes the bulk of their money from shrink wrapped games sold at brick-and-mortar stores.
“This is a revolution,” said Lou Kerner an analyst at the brokerage firm Liquidnet, who has followed Zynga for years. “Social is revolutionizing the gaming industry and it’s really the early days of a brand new medium.”
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