Playtika skyrockets 34% after raising $1.88 billion in IPO

• Shares of Playtika surged as much as 34% Friday, giving the mobile game developer a valuation of almost $15 billion.
• Playtika's Thursday IPO raised $1.88 billion for the firm after 69.5 million shares were priced at $27 apiece, slightly above the initial marketed range.
• Playtika shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "PLTK."

Shares of Playtika soared as much as 34% on Friday, giving the mobile game-developer a valuation of almost $15 billion in its first day of trading on the open market.

The jump comes after Playtika's Thursday IPO raised $1.88 billion for the firm as 69.5 million shares were priced at $27 apiece.

The share price exceeded the company's initial targeted range of between $22 to $24, making the offering the largest Israeli IPO in history.

Playtika shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "PLTK."

The likes of BlackRock, Caledonia, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Tiger Global Management loaded up on $600 million worth of shares in Thursday's IPO.

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Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, Playtika was founded by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak back in 2010. The company was among the first providers of free-to-play games on social networks and mobile platforms.

Caesars Entertainment then acquired Playtika before eventually selling the company to a group of Chinese investors in 2016.

The firm now boasts over 3,700 employees in 19 offices around the world and notched revenue of $2.3 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $815 million for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

Craig Abrahams, President & CFO of Playtika, said in a statement to Business Insider that the company is "incredibly excited about going public today."

Abrahams continued, "At Playtika, we see our games differently. They aren't just games, they're entertainment platforms. We're excited about our growth prospects moving forward, and extending our journey as a leading mobile games technology company."

Playtika has over 35 million monthly active users across its titles, including, Slotmania, Bingo Blitz, and Board Kings.

The Chinese backed mobile game expert expects to benefit from the increasing prominence of mobile games going forward. Mobile games generated $77.2 billion in revenue during 2020, growing 13.3% year-over-year, according to data from Newzoo.

However, Renaissance Capital noted in an IPO run-down released last week that the company gets almost half its revenue from just two games.

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