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Sega officially announced its acquisition of Rovio

234 View2023-04-18

Sega, the iconic video game company behind Sonic The Hedgehog, has officially announced its acquisition of Rovio, the mobile game and movie franchise company best known for Angry Birds. The deal, which has been rumored for some time, comes with a price tag of €706 million ($775 million), slightly lower than the rumored $1 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, Sega will purchase all of Rovio's outstanding shares and options for €9.25 per share and €1.48 per option, with parent company Sega Sammy Holdings covering the cost. The acquisition is a friendly takeover, supported by Rovio's board of directors, and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the 2024 financial year (September 2023).

According to Sega, the acquisition of Rovio will help it further strengthen its position in the fast-growing mobile and global gaming market. The company also plans to invest up to ¥250 billion during the five-year period ending FY2026/3, exploring investment opportunities in the consumer area to create new ecosystems and strengthen its development capabilities.

In acquiring Rovio, Sega has gained access to the mobile gaming platform, Beacon, and a live-ops operation with the expertise to turn any of Sega's existing game properties into a successful mobile game. And, of course, there's the matter of the hugely popular Angry Birds franchise, which could potentially find success on formats other than mobile with Sega's background in console and arcade games.

Sega in Talks to Acquire Rovio for $1 Billion

The Wall Street Journal reported that Sega is in advanced negotiations to acquire Rovio Entertainment Corp., the Finnish game maker behind the popular mobile game Angry Birds, for a price close to $1 billion. The acquisition could be announced as early as next week if talks don't fall apart over the weekend. Angry Birds was launched in 2009 and quickly became a sensation, becoming the first mobile game to draw over one billion downloads. Players use a slingshot to launch birds at pigs protected by materials such as wood, glass, and stone. The game's simplicity and addictive nature kept users hooked, and Rovio capitalized on its success by releasing 21 more Angry Birds games.

Game Droid Daily1K2023-04-16

Microsoft is to buy Activision Blizzard; the deal is worth $68.7 billion. After the acquisition, Microsoft will be publishing some of the company's popular work like Call of Duty, Warcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, and Candy Crush. "Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog." said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

TapTap Editor6K2022-01-18