King Digital Entertainment PLC, the company behind Candy Crush Saga, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take the company public.
As of late King has been pretty well-known for chasing companies over trademarks, but that hasn't deterred its monster hit game Candy Crush Saga from still being a massive hit. In the filing for its IPO (Initial Public Offering) with the SEC today, the company revealed that 93 million unique players logged in to the addictive puzzle game last month. Overall King counts 128 million daily users across its various properties, but it is clear that the puzzle game that sees you lining up three or more sugary treats is its juggernaut success.
According the filing King is aiming to raise $500 million from the IPO, but it isn't to pay off debts, but instead would use the funds to make acquisitions. It is clear that there is real money being made by the company as the filing revealed $1.9 billion in revenue in 2013, with $567.6 in profits, up from a mere $7.8 million in 2012.
While King may be riding high on its success at the moment, investors will have to ponder if it can continue. Users will eventually tire of Candy Crush Saga and move on to other distractions. Case in point, Zynga went public in 2011 to much fanfare, but quickly discovered that investors became weary as FarmVille began to fall out of favor with its users and its profits rapidly declined, which in turn lead to many layoffs. And if you think King would have success by buying competitors, don't forget that Zynga tried to do the same by acquiring OMGPOP, the makers of Draw Something.
There is every chance that King may find success with its IPO, but history has shown that this can most assuredly work out in the negative. Only time will tell.
There is no target date as of yet for when King will go public, but you can probably expect it in the next few months.
