Social gaming publisher Zynga is now seeking a $7 billion valuation for its initial public offerings, down around $10 billion from some previous reports. Sources close to the process peg a pricing date of December 15 with the IPO generating $900 million in proceeds based on a per share range of $8 to $10 (with 100 million shares to be issued). The company will trade its stock under the symbol ZNGA on the Nasdaq.
Analysts agree that Zynga’s previous valuations were too ambitious and company could stand to wait until after a release of its fourth quarter financials.
"I think they must have realized that getting $14 billion or higher would be a tough thing in this market. We were wondering how they would pull that off," said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia.
"They should file their December quarter financials first. People will pay for growth," he said, adding that recently released games such as CastleVille are doing well and that revenue has not been recorded yet by the company.
Reuters reports that Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, COO John Schappert, and CFO David Wehner will be kicking off investor presentation in the next week.
