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King Shares Down 13 Percent Following IPO
Candy Crush Saga publisher King has had a rough first day of NASDAQ trading. Shares opened at $22.50 this morning, but have slid approximately 13 percent at time of publication.
King’s opening bid raised approximately $500 million, bringing the company’s valuation to around $7 billion. Since then, the 22,200,000 shares have dropped to a total value of approximately $434.5 million.
King also faces a challenge to its trademark for its largest game, Candy Crush Saga. According to GamesIndustry, Cut the Rope developer ZeptoLab is seeking to cancel King’s “candy” trademark in the European Union.
"Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise," says ZeptoLab CEO Misha Lyalin. "And we do not support King.com trademarking and preventing others from using it."
Our Take
King's opening is lower than expected, and comes on a day that rivals Zynga and Glu Mobile are also down. It's important to note that this IPO only represents about seven percent of King's total valuation. It could have been a better day, but it's far too early to expect the company to disappear (even if you'd like justice for the cloning scandal and overly aggressive trademark and copyright protection).
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