Activision Buys Candy Crush Developer King for $5.9 Billion

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We’ve learned (via Financial Times) that Activision Blizzard has purchased King Digital Entertainment, the London-based developer behind Candy Crush Saga.

The all-cash deal is reportedly for $5.9 billion dollars, and if fully completed will be the biggest takeover of a UK-based tech company since HP purchased Autonomy for $11 billion four years ago.

The deal comes in at a 26% premium to King’s $4.7 billion market capitalization as the market closed on Monday – however it’s priced lower than when King went public in March of last year.

While console games are still being dominated by competitive shooters, King has produced wildly successful games for mobile, with roughly 340 million unique users a month.

King has drawn back their financial dependence on Candy Crush, while the game still makes up more than a third of their revenue. Founded in Sweden back in 2003, the developer has made over 200 games between its London, Dublin, and New York offices.

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