Zynga Incorporated, which plans to go public in two weeks, on Friday slashed its value by more than 30 per cent to $9bn, hoping to avoid the fate of other recent Internet IPOs that were disappointed after stock market debuts.Reuters reported the pricing values of the maker of Facebook games as high as $9.04bn, whereas just two weeks ago a filing listed its value, based on a third party assessment, at $14.05bn.Given whats transpired in the markets over the several months and overall macro uncertainly, it seems like Zynga is trying to take a practical and prudent approach to the deal to make it seem more appetizing to investors, Robert W. Baird and Company analyst, Colin Sebastian said.Shares of Internet companies Groupon and Pandora Media, both high profile IPOs, have slumped below their IPO prices. Some feared Zynga would find itself in a similar situation after some previous sky high valuations.Zynga said in an updated filing on Friday, that it planned to sell 100 million new shares, an 11.1 per cent stake, at between $8.50 and $10 each. A Zynga spokesman declined to comment on the IPO.At the midpoint price, the Zynga IPO could raise $925m, which would make it the largest by a United States Internet company since Google Incorporated raised $1.7bn in 2004.The updated filing with a price range kicks off the companys road show, in which Chief Executive, Mark Pincus, and Chief Financial Officer, David Wehner, will pitch the IPO to investors.The road show starts in the mid-Atlantic region on Monday, with stops in cities, including Chicago, Boston, New York, Denver and San Francisco. Zynga aims to set a final price on December 15, and the stock is scheduled to trade on December 16.Five-year-old Zynga made its name with viral games, such as FarmVille, among the most popular on the Facebook social network. While Zyngas games are free to play, the company makes money from selling virtual itemssuch as tractors and weaponsthat players then use in games.Based on a fully diluted share count of 904 million, which includes existing shares and stock options, the IPO price values Zynga at $7.7bn to $9.04bn.While Zyngas valuation has been cut from earlier estimates, Zynga would still be among the largest publicly traded United States game developers after it debuts on Nasdaq under the ZNGA ticker.
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