Zynga shares surged 20.2% in after-hours trading Thursday after the online gaming company said it is cutting 15% of its workforce and acquiring a mobile video game-make for $527 million. The San Francisco-based company is reducing its headcount to 314 workers with most of the cuts coming from management and administrative staff. It says it hopes to save up to $35 million pre-tax this year.
Zynga was full of surprises Thursday. The social gaming company announced Q4 and year end financials on Thursday a full week ahead of schedule, but these numbers were somewhat overshadowed by an unexpected acquisition and plans for another round of layoffs. The layoffs, which will include more than 300 jobs (15% of the company’s workforce), comes just seven months after Zynga unexpectedly laid off more than 500 employees back in June. The company shut down three offices at the same time, and this round of layoffs will save the company “$33 to $35 million in pre-tax savings for 2014,” according to the company’s earnings release.
