Citibank: AppLovin may try to buy Unity again
AppLovin could be interested in buying Unity again after the scandal over the Runtime Fee and the departure of Unity CEO John Riccitiello. Citibank analysts think so.
According to Citibank, AppLovin may make a second attempt for three reasons:
Unity found itself in a vulnerable position after it faced massive criticism of the updated pricing policy of the engine. Under pressure from the developers, Unity was forced to reconsider the changes, and now it wants to regain trust in the company;
Unity shares have fallen by 40% since AppLovin first offered to merge;
AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi may head the combined company, taking Riccitello's place.
Recall that AppLovin made an offer to buy Unity in August 2022, valuing the company at about $ 20 billion. However, the latter refused and instead made a deal with ironSource.
It is worth noting that AppLovin and Unity became direct competitors in the field of monetization solutions after the merger of Unity and ironSource. Despite Citibank's arguments, it is doubtful that AppLovin will try to buy Unity again. At a minimum, such a deal will raise questions from antitrust regulators.
