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Candy Crush maker said to file for IPO

The king of Facebook games reportedly wants to cash in its candies for real money in a public offering.

Jennifer Van Grove Former Senior Writer / News
Jennifer Van Grove covered the social beat for CNET. She loves Boo the dog, CrossFit, and eating vegan. Her jokes are often in poor taste, but her articles are not.
Jennifer Van Grove
Life-size renditions of candies from King's Candy Crush Saga. Chester Ng/Facebook

Like Twitter, UK-based King, makers of the smash hit Candy Crush Saga, has secretly filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to go public, according to the Telegraph.

King used the provision in the JOBS Act that allows smaller companies with less than $1 billion in annual sales to start the IPO process confidentially. The games maker is expected to list its shares on the Nasdag with a valuation exceeding $5 billion, the Telegraph reported. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Founded in 2003, King touts 100 million daily active players of its games. The studio's biggest hit -- Candy Crush Saga of course -- witnesses more than 600 million total active game sessions each day from mobile devices, the company told CNET a few weeks ago. Though King's games can be played independent of Facebook, the social network has proved an invaluable distribution channel for the 10-year-old company.

King has reportedly talked with with JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Bank of America to lead the IPO. The gaming company is said to be profitable.

King may have Candy Crush, the most popular game on Facebook, sitting in its back pocket, but the company will need to distinguish itself from Zynga, once the hottest social game maker on the block, should it wish to avoid a similar slip from Wall Street's leaderboard.