Popcap to be Acquired for $1 Billion
Lately, several casual gaming companies have been acquired by larger corporations. Playfish, Playdom, and Ngmoco are just a few examples of casual gaming companies that have been bought for, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. So it comes as little surprise that the incredibly popular Bejeweled developer Popcap may be next in line for purchase.
Multiple anonymous sources have been tipping off TechCrunch to the fact that a buyer is looking to acquire Popcap for $1 billion. According to TechCrunch, this is 10 times as much money than Popcap's yearly revenue, about $100-$150 million. However, the site's sources have no idea who the buyer is. Farmville developer Zynga may be mulling a public initial offering, but have apparently backed off due to Popcap's exorbitant opening price.
One day later, TechCrunch received word from two other sources that the buyer is most probably Electronic Arts. These sources indicated that the negotiations with Popcap were in a late stage. Other candidates for buyers include Asian game companies such as Call of Duty service provider Tencent. However, given EA's recent Playfish deals, they are most likely the ones attempting to buy Popcap.
It definitely makes sense. Popcap is the developer of Bejeweled, arguably the most popular casual game to this day, with over 50 million sales since it's initial release in 2000. EA would surely love access to those profits.
