SAN FRANCISCO—On the morning of Monday, June 1, Zynga Inc. announced on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts that they have entered into a nearly $2 billion deal to acquire Peak, an Istanbul-based company.
This acquisition deal is the biggest in Zynga’s 13-year history. Zynga is an American game developer company that is based primarily in San Francisco and was founded in 2007. They have developed games such as FarmVille, Words With Friends, and Draw Something. Peak is a Turkish mobile gaming company that is based in Istanbul, Turkey, and was founded in 2010. Their games include Toy Blast and Toon Blast, which both have millions of players and downloads. In addition, these two games have ranked in the top 10 and top 20 United States iPhone App Store games for two years.
Zynga is acquiring 100% of Peak, which means that they will have full control of the company. Zynga will take on all 100 of Peak’s employees and their games. The $1.8 billion deal is split into approximately $900 million in cash and approximately $900 million in Zynga common stock. Common stock, which is also known as equity shares in other countries, is a form of ownership for a corporation.
The founder and CEO of Peak, Sidar Sahin, called the deal a “monumental partnership…for the whole mobile gaming industry.” Peak’s two games are expected to bump up the daily average users for Zynga by more than 60%, according to this press release on Business Wire. The deal is expected to be finalized sometime around July or September of 2020.
