Japanese gaming giant Sega to acquire Angry Birds maker Rovio in $776 mn deal

Sega Sammy will launch its tender offer bid on May 8 and the deal is expected to be closed in the next couple of months subject to some ‘customary conditions’.

According to news agency Reuters, Rovio’s shares saw a significant surge, going up 18.8% in early European trade following the announcement. However, Sega Sammy’s shares declined by 4.2% the day prior to the tender offer announcement, after the company revealed its plans to acquire Rovio.

Sega Sammy Holdings President and CEO Haruki Satomi, while speaking about the acquisition in a statement said, “Historically, as represented by the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ series, Sega has released countless video game titles to various gaming platforms. I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward.”

Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand in a statement about the takeover said “Our mission is to ‘Craft Joy’ and we are thrilled at the idea of using our expertise and tools to bring even more joy to our players, enhancing and expanding Rovio’s and Sega’s vibrant IPs”

Earlier this year, Rovio received a takeover offer from the Israeli Playtika Holding Corp, which valued the company at 683 million euros. However, in March, Playtika announced that the discussions regarding the takeover had ended.

Launched in 2009, Angry Birds quickly became a global phenomenon. But the franchise started to lose momentum by 2014. The popular game also set a world record by becoming the first mobile game to be downloaded 1 billion times.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, the first Angry Birds movie released in 2016 was a huge commercial success, grossing over $350 million worldwide. However, the second movie failed to replicate the success of its predecessor.