EA to buy PopCap Games
The publisher will pay over $1 billion for the Seattle-based developer, sources have told TechCrunch. The move is being described as a 'huge bet' for EA, with the price tag valued at around 13% of its market capital.
Acquiring PopCap will strengthen the firm's push into mobile and social gaming, areas in which it has underperformed previously.
According to Gaming Bus, other companies were rumoured to be in the running for PopCap as well. Social games giant Zynga had reportedly 'kicked the tires', but deemed the purchase price to be too high.
Another company reported to be in the market was Japanese mobile giant, DeNA. Google was also widely believed to be a player due to a recent job posting indicating that it would be entering the games industry.
PopCap, the company behind Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies, makes revenues of about $100 million to $150 million per year, which makes the purchase price anywhere from eight to 10 times their annual revenues. The company's last big game was Bejeweled 3. This buyout is contrary to earlier reports that PopCap would be going forward with an IPO.
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