As speculation grows concerning an IPO for King, free-to-play publisher Kabam is also looking at its possibilities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company, which has raised $125 million in VC funding, has sold $38.5 million of its privately-held shares.
These were owned by company employees; likely senior members of the management team so the cash goes to them, not to the company.
The move values Kabam at $700 million.
It announced sales of $180 million in 2012 - 80 percent of which was generated by mobile games - and says it expects to break the $300 million-mark in 2013.
It also has around $50 million in cash.
Mobile explosion
The 700 person-strong developer and publisher of hardcore games on web and mobile, Kabam is growing fast, particularly on mobile.
Its first mobile release was a standalone version of its Kingdoms of Camelot web game, quickly followed by a tie-in game with The Hobbit film and its first original mobile game Arcane Legends.
It's since launched Fast & Furious 6: The Game, which has been its fastest-growing game ever with 17 million downloads in its first month of availability.
Fast & Furious 6: The Game
It expects to launch 15 internally-developed games and up to 50 published games on mobile and web during 2013.
The way ahead
CEO Kevin Cho won't comment on the company's rumoured plan to IPO by the end of 2014.
But when it came to the share sell-off, he said employees should benefit from the value they're creating in Kabam.
""In the last 12 months, Kabam has launched North America's most successful game publishing and platform business, bringing over 20 high quality titles to market. Our talented employees are the ones making these efforts so successful," he commented.
[source: Wall Street Journal]
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
11 hours, 12 minutes ago
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Mobile Games E14 -Supercell's Squad Busters goes global and why Steam does discoverability better than mobile
News
May 31st, 2024
Week in Views - Squad Busters goes global, broken app stores, and Hill Climb Racing gets the LEGO treatment
News
May 31st, 2024
Mobile Movers: All the latest appointments and job moves from around the industry
Events
Indie Game Fest & Indie Campus 2024 | Europe | May 31st |
Indie Craft K-Game Festival 2024 | Europe | May 31st |
BostonFig Online 2024 | Jun 1st | |
GameSummit Summer 2024 | Jun 1st | |
Gotland Game Conference 2024 | Nordic | Jun 3rd |
Games Mental Health Summit 2024 | Europe | Jun 3rd |
Dev Play Conference 2024 | Europe | Jun 3rd |
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |