Many investors’ eyes have been fixed on social gaming company Zynga since the company filed for an initial public stock offering at the beginning of July, with expectations the move could bring as much as a billion dollars into the company. However, recent instability in the U.S. and global market has thrown a chill over many aspects of the investment community, and now the New York Post reports that Zynga is looking at pushing back its IPO a bit. Initially expected to land in September, the paper cites two sources “with knowledge of Zynga’s plans” that the company may delay its IPO until November.
The report also says the SEC is pushing Zynga for more information about its accounting practices as well as the number of paying customers it has for each of its gaming titles. In a filing with the SEC, Zynga has indicated that fewer than five percent of people who play its social games actually pay for virtual goods in the games.
Zynga is a major publisher of online social games popular on Facebook and other sites, including Farmville, CityVille, and Empires & Allies.
Zynga’s IPO has been hotly anticipated for some months, but some industry watchers note it might make sense to delay an offering: few banks backing a major IPO want to launch it in a topsy-turvy stock market, and roughly a dozen major IPOs have already been delayed over concerns of market stability.
