KKR-backed AppLovin sets $1 bln as new placeholder amount for U.S. IPO (updated)

Playtika Holding

22/03/2021 22:30

(Adds details, background on AppLovin)
    March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. mobile app and gaming company
AppLovin Corp, which is backed by private equity giant KKR & Co
Inc  KKR.N , said on Monday it is aiming to raise $1 billion in
an initial public offering.
    However, AppLovin did not reveal the number of shares it
plans to offer to investors or the price range for its offering,
indicating that the new figure is just a placeholder amount. The
actual raise amount is likely to change when the company reveals
the terms for its offering. 
    It had previously put $100 million as the placeholder
amount, which is usually set for calculating the registration
fee for any given share sale. 
    Reuters reported in October that Palo Alto, California-based
AppLovin had hired Morgan Stanley to lead the IPO.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2GV00Q
    AppLovin is the latest player in the mobile gaming industry
looking to cash in on the surging demand for video games from
gamers staying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with
DraftKings Inc  DKNG.O , Playtika Holding Corp  PLTK.O  and
Roblox Corp  RBLX.N  also going public over the past 18 months. 
    Founded in 2012 as a mobile games advertising platform,    
AppLovin's revenue grew 46% to $1.45 billion in the year ended
Dec. 31, 2020.
    But it posted a net loss of around $125 million last year,
compared with a net profit of $119 million a year earlier.
     Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, KKR, BofA Securities and
Citigroup are the lead underwriters for AppLovin's offering. 

 (Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila, Aditya Soni)
 ((sohini.podder@thomsonreuters.com;))