Closing another loop (see - More bubbles), Zynga’s IPO last night was at $10 a share valuing them at $7b. 14% of shares were sold in the float – rather higher than the minimal free floats in other IPOs this year. The price was ‘in range’, but this is still 11x last year’s sales.
I’ve been writing about Zynga and their range of games like Farmville, for many years. Indeed I was rather proud of my Down on Farm and, in particular, Money for Nothing but the Chicks ain’t Free posts. Zynga is closely tied to Facebook (and, to a less extent, vice versa). But Zynga could well be a fad where fickle young gamers might choose new games – just as they have done with Angry Birds. Conversely, Facebook is pretty much established as the defacto consumer social network.
So, all eyes now on Facebook’s IPO in 2012.