SEGA seeks to acquire Angry Birds developer in $776 million deal

Earlier today, SEGA announced that it had acquired Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment for $776 million. Intent on making a foray into mobile gaming, the acquisition is a huge step for the Japanese corporation. Adding veteran developer Rovio also gives the company access to “Rovio’s distinctive know-how in live service mobile game operations.” Here are all the details known from the acquisition.

SEGA closes out near billion dollar deal for Rovio Entertainment

Rovio Entertainment Oyjの買収について
～モバイルゲーム領域の強化を通じたコンシューマ事業のグローバル展開の加速～

SEGA to Acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj
~ Global Expansion of the Consumer Business through Enhancement of Mobile Gaming Capabilities ~https://t.co/ICxRH6uuQK

— セガ公式アカウント🦔 (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) April 17, 2023

The value was confirmed after SEGA_OFFICIAL tweeted out a document containing all the details. Here’s a translation of the relevant bits:

“Through the Tender Offer, SEGA aims to acquire the entirety of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options at EUR 9.25 per share and EUR 1.48 per option, or EUR 706 million in total (approximately ¥103,680 million converted at EUR1 = ¥146.9 (FX rate as of April 14, 2023).”

The Japanese corporation also provided a press release, explaining its motivations and long-term goals for the acquisition:

“Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has especially high potential, and it has been Sega’s long-term goal to accelerate its expansion in this field,”-Haruki Satomi, CEO, SEGA.

How has Angry Birds grown in recent years?

First released in 2009, Angry Birds has grown into one of the biggest franchises in recent times. The game was one of the first mobile titles to hit 1 billion downloads. In the years since, Rovio became a listed company in 2017, had two Angry Birds feature films, countless sequels, and grew to house over 500 employees worldwide. Earlier this year, Rovio made the controversial decision of de-listing the original game from app stores. Citing that the one-time purchase game was showing up at the top of search results, the company made the decision to remove it and send traffic to newer games.