Rovio Entertainment, the developer of the popular game angry Birds, is acquired by the game publisher SEGA. The game maker had been looking for a buyer for some time. SEGA pays 706 million euros for the acquisition.
Takeover was in the air, business newspaper The Wall Street Journal signaled this weekend that an agreement was approaching. Rovio’s board recommends shareholders accept SEGA’s offer.
SEGA is best known for the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. He is a blue hedgehog who has the gift of running extremely fast. The company wants to expand its own range of mobile games with the acquisition of Rovio.
Finland’s Rovio had been looking for a buyer for some time. Last month, takeover talks between the game developer and Israeli game company Playtika broke down. According to insiders, it was because Rovio thought the bid was too low. The Finns then continued the search for a new owner and said they were in talks with several parties.
In 2017, Rovio went public and the company was valued at €900 million. angry Birds first appeared in 2009 in the Apple App Store and later also in the Google Play Store. It was the first mobile game to reach over a billion downloads.