Glu Mobile Goes Public

Mobile game company Glu Mobile becomes publicly traded.

Mobile game developer Glu Mobile (GLUU) went public on the Nasdaq yesterday to much fanfare on Wall Street. Issuing 7.5 million shares priced at $11.50 each, the stock managed to rise to an intraday high of $13.50, despite the estimated upper limit of $12 for the opening bid. Goldman Sachs underwrote the offering with the help of managers Bank of America and Lehman Brothers, all of which helped GLUU raise the $84 million it gained from the initial public offering and reach a market capitalization of $335.85 million. According to the SEC filings, Glu will use the money to pay off debt valued at $43.7 million in September, 2006.

Recently, Glu Mobile has partnered with Codemasters to port franchises to cell phones and Nokia to publish an N-Gage version of World Series of Poker Texas Hold'em. Since competitor Jamdat was acquired by Electronic Arts in December, 2005, GLUU is the only mobile gaming company on the American markets.