The maker of the hit mobile game Candy Crush Saga filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, hoping to raise $500 million from investors.
The company, Ireland-based King Digital Entertainment PLC, said it plans to use the funds for working capital and acquisitions to diversify its game offerings.
The company said it booked an eleven-fold increase in revenue in 2013 to $1.9 billion, with 78 per cent of sales coming from Candy Crush players.
Though the game is free, players can purchase bonus items such as extra lives or additional game content for around a dollar each.
According to the filing, Candy Crush Saga has been downloaded on some 500 million mobile devices. Some 408 million players play at least one game a month, while 124 million users play daily.
The company was founded in 2003 and has 665 employees. It spent $110 million last year on research and development, and offers 180 games in 14 different languages, it said in its IPO filing.
The most famous game maker to go public is Zynga, which has seen its share price fall by 50 per cent since its 2011 IPO.
King said its structure would allow it to replicate Candy Crush’s success in the future.
“Mobile usage is exploding and games are commanding the lion’s share of time spent,” CEO Riccardo Zacconi said in the IPO prospectus.
“Consumption habits have changed – mobile has meant that people consume more digital content than they ever have before, and they want to be entertained over short periods of time whenever and wherever they are.”