Israel’s Playtika Files For A US IPO

Playtika, a mobile gaming giant based out of Israel, has filed for a US public offering with the country’s Securities…

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Playtika, a mobile gaming giant based out of Israel, has filed for a US public offering with the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), setting the stage for one of Israel’s most notable tech companies to hit the public markets.

Playtika is a mobile games developer behind popular titles like Caesars Casino, Vegas Downtown Slots, Board Kings, and Bingo Blitz. Known mainly for casino-oriented games, Playtika was for five years owned by the American casino giant Caesars before it sold the company to a consortium of Chinese investors in a $4.4 billion deal in 2016. Caesars had acquired the company in 2011 from its original founders.

Standing out compared to many other IPOs of this year, Playtika is profitable, posting a net income of $289 million on $1.9 billion in revenue last year. In the first nine months of this year, the company posted a net income of $16 million on $1.8 billion in revenue, attributing the sharp drop in net income to mostly stock-based compensation.

Playtika is one of Israel’s biggest technology and gaming companies and has major operations both in and outside the country. Outside Israel, Playtika also maintains offices in the US, UK, Germany, Finland, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and Japan among others. The company has around 3,700 employees worldwide.

Playtika’s IPO will likely happen early next year. It’s being arranged by a group of investment banks including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and UBS.

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