initial public offerings (IPOs) trading on American exchanges

Monday, November 7, 2011

Zynga planning its IPO after Thanksgiving

Zynga Inc. plans to proceed with its initial public offering after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 24, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The company may set terms in the last week of November and then begin pitching the IPO to potential investors, said the people, who declined to be named because the discussions are private. Zynga had planned to proceed with the IPO before Thanksgiving, two people familiar with the company’s plans said last month.
Zynga, which filed for a $1 billion IPO in July, would follow a public offering by Groupon Inc., the online-coupon leader, whose shares rose 31 percent in their first day of trading on Nov. 4.


Last week, Zynga updated its prospectus to show that 6.7 million of its users were paying customers in the first nine months of the year, compared with 5.1 million in the year- earlier period. Revenue more than doubled to $828.9 million. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hasn’t completed its review of the company’s financial results, said one of the people familiar with the company’s current plans.

Adam Isserlis, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Zynga, declined to comment on the company’s plans to go public. Kevin Callahan, a spokesman for the SEC, also declined to comment.

Founded in 2007, Zynga offers its games for free and then sells virtual items within applications, such as a townhouse in “CityVille” or a shipyard in “Empires & Allies.” Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) are managing the offering.

Zynga’s shares will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ZNGA.

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