Disney Said to Discuss Buying Playdom, Maker of Games Played on Facebook

Walt Disney Co. is in talks to buy Playdom Inc., maker of video games played on the Facebook social-networking website, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

An agreement may be reached as soon as the coming week, said the person, who sought anonymity because a deal hasn’t been reached. Playdom may be sold for more than $500 million, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. TechCrunch.com reported the talks earlier.

Playdom would extend Disney’s expansion in online and mobile games. This month, the company acquired Tapulous Inc., a developer of music-related games for Apple Inc.’s iPod and iPad. Disney, the world’s largest media company, is attracted to the growth of mobile games and mobile media, Steve Wadsworth, head of the Internet unit, said in a July 1 interview.

“Playdom is the biggest guy left that’s independent that’s not crazy expensive,” said Michael Pachter, a Los Angeles-based analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Jonathan Friedland, a spokeswoman for Burbank, California- based Disney, declined to comment.

Mountain View, California-based Playdom raised $33 million in June, from venture capital groups including Disney-backed Steamboat Ventures, which invests in digital media, consumer and technology companies. The funding brought the total raised by the company to $76 million.

Playdom announced a content partnership with Disney’s ESPN sports cable channel in May.

Disney rose 54 cents to $34.13 today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 5.8 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Douglas MacMillan in New York at Dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net; Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net.

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