King suffers worst IPO day one of 2014

It was a rough day on the markets for casual games maker King yesterday.

The Candy Crush Saga maker kicked off its IPO with an introductory stock price of $22.50. By the end of trading that had fallen to $19 – a decline of 15.5 per cent that VentureBeat says is the worst IPO debut of the year to date.

The stock never climbed above $22.50 and at one stage fell as low as $18.50.

I wouldn’t be here if I was not confident,” chief executive Riccardo Zacconi said. The company has a great future. We are selling a very small amount of stock. We have been around for a long time. This is not unusual from what I have learned. I am super-confident.”

King’s over-reliance on Candy Crush Saga coupled with fresh memories of Zynga’s stock troubles are being named as the likely reasons for traders’ hesitancy.

About MCV Staff

Check Also

The shortlist for the 2024 MCV/DEVELOP Awards!

After carefully considering the many hundreds of nominations, we have a shortlist! Voting on the winners will begin soon, ahead of the awards ceremony on June 20th