Japanese video game giant SEGA announced on Monday that it has made a €706 million bid to acquire Finnish puzzle game developer Angry Birds, Rovio Entertainment Oyj.
The company added that Rovio’s board of directors supports the bid.
According to the announcement, Rovio games have been downloaded more than 5 billion times. At the same time, the Angry Birds franchise has been licensed to other entertainment and consumer products.
Founded in 1960, Tokyo-based SEGA is best known for the Sonic the Hedgehog and Total War franchises, as well as its own consoles like the Sega Mega Drive in the 1990s.
The company wants to use Rovio to expand its presence in the mobile gaming market and said it will boost the development of mobile versions of its existing games.
SEGA expands into mobile games
“Among the rapidly growing global game market, the mobile game market has a particularly high potential, and SEGA’s long-term goal is to accelerate its expansion in this field.”said Sega Sammy Group CEO Haruki Satomi.
He said Angry Birds is “loved all over the world”. “I am confident that by bringing together the brands, personalities, fan base, company culture and functionality, great synergies will be created in the future.”.
Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand said Red, the protagonist of Angry Birds, and Sonic the Hedgehog are “Two globally recognized, iconic characters created by two companies that complement each other incredibly well, with a global reach that spans mobile, desktop, console, and beyond.”.
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