Online games maker Zynga raises $1bn in flotation

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Zynga, the online games maker behind Mafia Wars and FarmVille, is to raise $1bn (£640m; 760m euros) on its US stock market debut.

The company has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 100 million shares at $10 a share. The price values the company at about $9bn.

Its flotation will be the largest by an internet company since Google raised $1.9bn at its IPO in 2004.

Founded in 2007, Zynga doubled sales to $829m in the first nine months of 2011.

Unlike its main rivals, it does not charge for the actual games, but makes money by selling add-ons including weapons or extra characters.

Market leader

Zynga's other revenue stream is unique advertising, such as Starbucks paying to have a virtual coffee shop in CityVille.

Users might have to visit that virtual store 10 times in order to build a Starbucks franchise in their own virtual cities.

Stephanie Chang, research analyst at Renaissance Capital, said: "It's currently the leader in the social gaming space. It has 54 million daily active users, which is more than the next 14 game developers combined."

She also pointed to the company's exposure to an estimated 3% of internet users, which gave it potential advertising potential of $1.5bn.

"That's a source of growth they haven't even tapped into yet," she said.