When rumors first surfaced of a $1 billion-plus acquisition of PopCap last month, Electronic Arts and Zynga were both likely suspects for the buyer. Zynga was said to have made an effort to buy the company but decided to drop out of the running. According to a new report by Forbes, Zynga attempted to buy PopCap outright for $1 billion in cash.
As is obvious given yesterday’s news that Electronic Arts has acquired the Peggle and Bejeweled maker, PopCap turned the deal down. EA’s offer is initially worth less, at $650 million plus $100 million in stock, but it could end up reaching $1.3 billion. That’s provided PopCap reach certain milestones — according to the Wall Street Journal, PopCap could earn the additional $550 million if PopCap’s earnings reach at least $343 million (before interest and tax) during 2012 and 2013. And to think: Microsoft offered to buy it for just $5 million back in 2002.
Zynga, which recently filed to go public, is best known for its line of social games like FarmVille and CityVille. Its IPO filing revealed how heavily it relies on Facebook to make money, whereas PopCap has a much smaller presence on the social network with only two of its games (Bejeweled and Zuma) on Facebook. As reported earlier today by Games.com, that looks as if it will be changing soon — Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle were both listed alongside Risk Factions and The Sims Social as future Facebook titles to come from EA and PopCap.
