The UK-based makers of “Candy Crush Saga” are reportedly planning a sweet deal for investors.
King, the online gaming company also known as Midasplayer, has hired bankers and is planning a US public offering, according to a report.
The price and timing of the offering have not been determined.
The London company has 70 million daily users and its “Candy Crush Saga” is the most popular app on Facebook, according to AppData, the report said.
A successful IPO could be sweet for private-equity firm Apax Partners and venture-capital firm Index Ventures, which invested about $50 million in the company in 2005, according to the report in the Wall Street Journal, which quoted people familiar with the move in its story on King hiring banks.
King did not respond to requests from The Post for comment.
King will try to buck a bad market for game makers. Zynga went public 18 months ago, and its shares have fallen 70 percent.
But King is much more successful in the red-hot mobile market.
“Candy Crush Saga,” launched in April 2012, is one of the top downloaded games on iPhone and Google Play, according to App Annie, which tracks app-store purchases.
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, says the criticisms of Zynga don’t apply to King.
“King is a different company. They’ve been on mobile devices since the beginning,” he said. “It’s the right time for them.”