Reports are that Zynga is looking to sell 43 million shares in a secondary offering. Nearly half of these shares will come from Zynga’s executives and directors, marking the first time they’ve been able to sell this Class B stock.
“Pincus is selling 16.5 million Class B shares, approximately 15 percent of his stake in the company. COO John Schappert is selling 322,350 shares, about 45 percent of his holdings,” writes Mike Thompson. “CFO David Wehner is cashing in on 386,865 shares, almost 55 percent of his stock. Directors Reid Hoffman and Owen Van Natta are also cashing in — Hoffman is selling 687,626 shares, just under 15 percent of his stock and Van Natta is selling 505,267 shares, nearly 19 percent of his holdings.”
“The secondary offering’s timing is geared towards counteracting the approaching end of Zynga’s lock-up period — when all outstanding shares other than those sold during the IPO can’t be traded — which is set to expire on May 28,” noted Thompson. “Both the lock-up period’s end and Facebook’s own expected IPO in May could influence Zynga’s stock prices dramatically, so putting this many shares on the market will theoretically minimize any potential volatility.”
Source: Inside Social Games
