SAN FRANCISCO — Zynga, the largest maker of games for Facebook, raised $1 billion in its initial public offering, pricing the shares at the top of the marketed range, said a person with knowledge of the IPO.
The developer of such games as “CityVille,” “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars” sold 100 million shares for $10 each, according to the source, who declined to be identified because details haven’t been released.
Zynga had offered the stock for $8.50 to $10 a share. It will start trading today on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ZNGA.
The IPO values Zynga at as much as $7 billion, or 6.8 times revenue in the year through Sept. 30.
The offering is the biggest by a U.S. Internet company since Google raised $1.9 billion in its 2004 IPO. The game maker’s surging sales appeal to investors seeking growth that outpaces members of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, said Tim Cunningham, a money manager at Thornburg Investment Management.
“Growth is really scarce, so I think that makes it more valuable than usual,” said Cunningham, who helps oversee about $74 billion at Thornburg in Santa Fe.
Founded by chief executive Mark Pincus in 2007, Zynga doubled sales to $829 million in the first nine months of 2011.
Zynga’s value is more than three times rival Electronic Arts’ price relative to sales over the same period. EA, based in Redwood City, Calif., bolstered its own online services by purchasing PopCap Games this year. EA, maker of “The Sims” and “Scrabble” for mobile devices, had a market value of $6.9 billion.
