King IPO falters on the New York Stock Exchange

Social games giant King today launched its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, with the Candy Crush Saga company pricing its shares at $22.50 a pop. With its offering of 22.2 million shares in total, that means that the London-based company is looking to raise around $500 million at this price. Notably, King had originally set an initial range of $21 to $24, meaning this initial pricing has fallen directly in the middle of the estimated range -- which, according to analysts, may not be the greatest of signs. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia told Reuters, "It's fair to say that if it was a very high-demand IPO, we would've seen the price at the upper end of the range. At the mid-point, it's a successful IPO but perhaps not a runaway success." King has already listed the potential risks behind its IPO, including the fact that the vast majority of its revenue comes from a single game, Candy Crush Saga. UPDATE: King's stock price slumped throughout the day, dropping 15 percent from its initial pricing to hit $19.03 per share by the time the market closed on King's first day of public trading.