Zynga IPO Values Company as High as $9.04 Billion

Tallahassee, FL 12/2/11 (StreetBeat) -- Zynga Inc plans to sell an 11.1 percent stake in a scaled-back initial public offering that would value the Facebook game maker at as much as $9 billion on a fully diluted basis. The leading social games maker plans to sell 100 million new shares at between $8.50 and $10 each, according to a U.S. regulatory filing on Friday. At the midpoint price, the IPO could raise $925 million, which would make it the largest from a U.S. Internet company since Google Inc (Nasdaq:GOOG) raised $1.7 billion in 2004.

Five-year-old Zynga made its name on viral games such as "FarmVille," among the most popular on the Facebook social network. While Zynga's games are free to play, the company makes money from selling virtual items -- such as tractors and weapons -- that players then use.

Based on a fully diluted share count of 904 million, which includes existing shares and stock options, the IPO price values Zynga at $7.7 billion to $9.04 billion. In a filing two weeks ago, the company said a third-party analysis had valued it at $14.05 billion. While the valuation has been cut, Zynga would still be among the largest publicly traded U.S. game developers after it debuts on Nasdaq under the "ZNGA" symbol.

Video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc (Nasdaq:ATVI) currently has the industry's highest market value of $14.2 billion, followed by Electronic Arts Inc (Nasdaq:ERTS) at $7.7 billion.

Zynga's debut will follow IPOs this year from Groupon Inc (Nasdaq:GRPN) and LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), which helped revive a market that had sputtered in recent years. Facebook is gearing up to go public next year.

Mark Pincus, a serial entrepreneur before he founded Zynga, will hold a class of shares with 70 times more voting power than the regular stock that will be sold in the offering.

Google, one of the early investors in Zynga, will be offering about 1.7 million shares, according to a regulatory filing. Other companies selling shares include Institutional Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures. Deep-pocketed rivals from Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) to Electronic Arts are starting to muscle in on Zynga's turf.

The company said its IPO represented 14.3 percent of 699 million common shares, excluding restricted stock.

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