King Digital Entertainment, maker of the mobile phone game "Candy Crush Saga," expects to be worth up to $7.6 billion when it goes public this month.
Initial Public Offerings by technology companies have been highly popular and analysts say that despite King's reliance on a handful of games, its IPO would be well-received due to the popularity of its games and the conservative pricing.
Twitter's successful IPO in November and a surge in Facebook's shares have fueled speculation that other tech firms could go public, including music-sharing service Spotify, lodging website AirBnB and mobile payments company Square.
Dublin-based King said on Wednesday it expected to price its initial public offering of 22.2 million shares at between $21 and $24 per share. At the top of this range, the company would be valued at about $7.6 billion.
"Candy Crush," launched in November 2012, involves moving candies to make a line of three in the same color. It was the most downloaded free app and top revenue-grossing app in 2013. King's revenue grew to $602 million last year from $22 million in the first quarter of 2012. But much of its growth has been fueled by "Candy Crush," which brings in about three-quarters of its revenue.
King has launched other games, particularly on mobile phones, as it looks to avoid the fate of other game makers. Zynga's stock price has halved since its IPO in 2011 as the popularity of "Farmville" waned, while Finland's Rovio has struggled to replicate the success of "Angry Birds."
