On Tuesday, word broke that South Korea’s DoubleDown Interactive had filed papers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take itself public. The Seoul-based company reportedly hopes to raise up to $100m from this initial public offering and begin a new life on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol DDI.
DoubleDown Interactive, formerly known as DoubleU Games, purchased DoubleDown from International Game Technology (IGT) three years ago for $825m. IGT turned heads in 2012 when it paid $500m for the Seattle-based business, although those frowns turned upside down when DoubleDown became a key contributor to IGT’s earnings reports. DoubleDown Interactive reported revenue of $281m in the 12 months ending March 31.
Must be something in the air besides COVID-19, as Tuesday also brought word that Playtika Ltd, the company behind the blockbuster social casino title Slotomania, was also prepping a US IPO. Reuters reported that Playtika’s owners hope to raise up to $1b via the listing.
Playtika began life as an Israeli startup before being acquired by casino operator Caesars Entertainment’s online division for $100m in 2011. In 2016, Caesars Interactive Entertainment sold Playtika to a Chinese consortium that included Alibaba founder Jack Ma for $4.4b.
Last November, one of the Chinese consortium’s members, who had been trying to acquire sole ownership of Playtika, revealed that the social gaming operator was seeking a public listing in an unspecified overseas market, but little was heard of the matter until this week.
The shutdown of nearly all land-based casinos, as well as countless other non-gaming retail entertainment options, appears to have convinced social gaming operators that there likely won’t be a better time to cash in those investment chips.