Sega, a Japanese video game company, stated Monday that it has made an offer to acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj, based in Finland, for 706 million euros ($776 million).
Sega has announced that they are interested in purchasing all of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options for 9.25 euros per share, which represents a premium of around 19% over the stock’s closing price prior to the announcement. The options are estimated to be worth 1.48 euros.
The offer has the backing of Rovio’s board, the business said.
According to Monday’s announcement, more than 5 billion copies of Rovio games had been downloaded. Meanwhile, it has licensed the Angry Birds brand for use in a variety of media and merchandise.
Tokyo-based Sega was founded in Japan in 1960, and the company is well-known outside of Japan for its 1990s video game platforms, such as the Sonic the Hedgehog and Total War series and the Genesis/Mega Drive.
It plans to use Rovio to strengthen its foothold in the mobile gaming market and has pledged to accelerate the creation of mobile versions of its existing games using its live-operated mobile game development resources.
As previously reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Rovio acquisition was estimated to be worth something in the neighborhood of $1 billion.
Rising Rovio Shares
At 11:00 AM (London Time), Rovio shares had risen by 17.8 percent.
Sega Sammy, the holding company formed when Sega merged with video game developer Sammy in 2004, had its stock price drop by 4.2% on Monday before the deal was even announced.
Sega Sammy’s Group CEO, Haruki Satomi, stated in a statement that the company’s long-term goal has been to accelerate its progress in the mobile gaming market. The worldwide gaming business is expanding rapidly.
He claimed that Angry Birds is “loved across the world.” “I am confident that significant synergies will be created in the future through the combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality.”
As Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand put it, “two globally recognized and iconic characters made by two remarkably complementary companies, with a worldwide reach that spans mobile, PC/console, and beyond.” Red, the protagonist of Angry Birds, and Sonic the Hedgehog are both “globally recognized and iconic characters.”
