Playtika Holding Corp. offered to buy Rovio Entertainment Oyj, the maker of the Angry Birds mobile games, in a deal valuing the Finnish company at about €750 million ($810 million).
(Bloomberg) — Playtika Holding Corp. offered to buy Rovio Entertainment Oyj, the maker of the Angry Birds mobile games, in a deal valuing the Finnish company at about €750 million ($810 million).
Playtika, a developer of free-to-play mobile games such as Bingo Blitz, said it bid €9.05 a share in cash for the Espoo, Finland-based company. While no previous offer had been published, Herzliya, Israel-based Playtika said it proposed on Nov. 16 to buy Rovio for €8.50 a share.
The nonbinding offer made Thursday is 60% higher than Rovio’s market value at the close of trading and isn’t subject to any financing conditions. No agreement exists between the companies, Playtika said in a statement. Playtika’s shares fell as much as 6.3% in New York after the announcement, before paring most of the decline.
“We firmly believe the combination of Rovio’s renowned IP and scale of its user base, together with our best-in-class monetization and game operations capabilities, will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” said Chief Executive Officer Robert Antokol.
Rovio’s famous Angry Birds franchise, first released in app stores in 2009, is a cornerstone of the Finnish company’s operations, currently generating more than 80% of its games’ gross bookings. It was the first mobile game to reach 1 billion downloads, and Rovio went public in 2017 on the back of its success.
The company’s first months on the stock exchange were characterized by dramatic slumps after its financial disclosures disappointed shareholders. While the stock has gained back some of those early losses, Rovio trades about 50% below its initial public offering price.
Rovio’s reliance on the Angry Birds brand has worried investors, and the company has sought to expand to other brands and types of games. It has 10 new games in development and has acquired smaller rivals and games studios to grow in hyper-casual and puzzle games.
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