Candy Crush maker to be valued at up to $7.6 B in New York IPO

FP ing igital ntertainment, the ritish developer behind the wildly-addictive mobile game andy rush, said on ednesday that it could be valued at up to .6 billion in its eagerlyawaited upcoming flotation.

he planned listing on the ew ork tock xchange, unveiled last month, is the latest in a series by Internet and gaming firms over the past three years the most high-profile being Facebook and witter.

ing said on ednesday that it was planning an initial public offering of . million shares each priced at between and a share.

hat could give the company a market capitali ation of between 6.6 billion and .6 billion . billion to . billion euros .

“ e estimate that we will receive net proceeds from this offering of 6 million,” ing said in a statement.

“ e intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include ac uisitions.”

ing outlined its pricing in a statement issued by the regulatory body for the ew ork listing.

andy rush ing’s top-seller started life as a Facebook game in but can also be played online and on smartphones.

illions of commuters, teenagers even pensioners worldwide clock in daily to test their skills at the game, which basically involves moving brightly colored sweets around a grid to get at least three of a kind in a row.

he highly-addictive game is free, but players can pay for extras to smooth their passage through its more than levels.

andy rush records some million sessions a day and racks up daily sales of 8 , , according to the I digital research and consultancy firm.

uarter of players said they had spent money on the game, according to market research firm sk our arget.

espite its . billion users, Facebook had a rocky debut after it went public in ay , raising 6 billion in the biggest tech IP on record. Its shares fell by more than half in the ensuing months, but have since recovered thanks to strong gains in mobile ad revenues.

witter’s IP raised . 8 billion in ovember although shares later tumbled on warnings the short message network was overvalued.

nline gamemaker ynga behind the hit Facebook game Farm ille was valued at billion when it made its play on the stock market in ecember , but it has been on a losing streak since then.