Will DeNA Buy Ngmoco?
Rumors floating that DeNA is considering yet another purchase, this time for iPhone game publisher Ngmoco http://bit.ly/duijzn
Update: Yep.. it’s a Done Deal.. 😎
According to this note via VentureBeat:
Japan’s hot social mobile gaming firm DeNA is reportedly considering buying iPhone game publisher Ngmoco for more than $400 million.
Techcrunch reported that it heard the rumors from multiple sources and that the price is above $400 million, although that likely includes a large earnout, or a payment based on whether Ngmoco hits performance targets. Ngmoco was started in 2008 by former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young, and it then raised more than $40 million, much of it from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Kleiner’s Bing Gordon, former chief creative officer of EA, is on Ngmoco’s board.
DeNA is expecting to generate more than a billion dollars in revenue this year in the Japanese mobile games market, where mobile gaming is much more advanced. The promise of Ngmoco is that the U.S. could potentially be a much bigger market than Japan’s. That may be why DeNA is willing to pay such a high price for Ngmoco. Techrunch said Zynga reportedly looked at making a bid but balked at the high price.