Zynga will purchase Istanbul-based game developer Peak for $1.8 billion, marking the largest acquisition in Zynga’s history. Zynga officials said the deal would be financed by $900 million in cash and $900 million in stock. Zynga had already bought Peak’s casual card game studio in 2017 for $100 million.
The new deal is the latest sign of Zynga’s resurgence. After several shaky years following its 2011 IPO, the company has reversed its fortunes, thanks to a combination of in-house game development and strategic acquisitions.
Peak is best known for mobile games such as Toon Blast and Toy Blast. The press release noted that Peak’s titles have ranked in the top 10 and top 20 highest-grossing games for the iPhone for the past two years. With Peak’s 12 million daily active users, executives project the deal will increase Zynga’s DAUs more than 60% while helping the company expand its international reach.
In a message posted on Peak’s website, founder Sidar Sahin said he was immensely proud of his 100 employees and what they have accomplished since the company’s founding.
“Ten years ago, we set out on an amazing journey to make our dreams come true,” he wrote. “Touching millions of peoples’ lives with our technology was just one of those dreams. Today we are one of the largest companies in the global mobile gaming industry. Our games are played daily by millions of people in 193 countries.”
While the companies did not offer details on how Peak would operate, in the past Zynga has typically allowed studios it buys to maintain some degree of independence. Deals in recent years include the acquisition of Small Giant Games for $560 million, Gram Games for $250 million, and NaturalMotion for $527 million, in addition to the previous deal with Peak.
Investors seemed to applaud the deal, sending Zynga’s stock up $0.65 per share — or 7.10% to $9.80 — in premarket trading. That’s also up from $2.86 per share five years ago.