PopCap, the Seattle-based maker of popular online and casual games like “Bejeweled” and “Plants vs. Zombies,” is coming off a very newsy week as it tries to build buzz among investors ahead of a possible initial public offering later this year. Of course, if PopCap actually files an IPO prospectus with securities regulators, the company would have a legal duty to keep quiet—so it’s clearly getting the hype-building done now.
First, we saw CEO David Roberts giving Reuters some more detail on the IPO plans. Roberts pegged the target date as the fall, specifically between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, provided the market doesn’t stumble. Roberts added that he thought it would be attractive to go public before Zynga, the red-hot maker of “FarmVille” and other social-game hits, gobbles up all kinds of mindshare on Wall Street.
PopCap also laid out some selective financial numbers in its media media blitz. The company said it hauled in about $100 million in revenue last year, which represented growth from about $80 million in 2009 and $50 million in 2008. Digital sales account for about 80 percent of the company’s business, with the balance from retail stores.
Reuters reported that PopCap “is auditioning bankers, who are giving “test road shows” and presenting slides to potential institutional investors to gauge the viability of the IPO.” And Roberts said he’s heard pitches from both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ about potentially listing the company, although he said NASDAQ, the trading hub of more smallcap tech companies, “is more likely.”
Business Insider followed up by publishing some of the slides from PopCap’s presentation about itself, showing that the mobile platform has kept relatively steady. About one-third of the players of PopCap games have used the mobile platform in the past five years. In that same time, console and online play have grown to make up for a decline in desktop gaming. Another slide said PopCap’s monthly social-game revenue has doubled since last August, to about $2.5 million.
In an interview with Games.com—which noted that the company was on an “NYC media tour where they’ve been outlining their plans to make a splash on the stock market”—PopCap co-founder John
