Japan’s video game and entertainment giant Sega Sammy is finalizing the acquisition of Finland-based video game developer Rovio in a deal that is believed to be worth around $776 million. Rovio is known for making the globally popular mobile game Angry Birds.
The deal is reportedly in the final stages and has the support of Rovio’s board. It would see Sega paying €9.25 per share, which represents almost a 20% premium compared to Friday’s closing price of $7.78. The offer has a value of €1.48 on options.
Sega, which saw its stock drop 4% after the news broke out, wants to use Rovio’s expertise and resources to expand in the mobile gaming market.
“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,” said Sega Sammy’s CEO Haruki Satomi.
Rovio’s mobile games have been downloaded more than five billion times to date. They found their biggest success with the Angry Birds franchise, which spanned dozens of video games as well as several movies and television series.
Sega is known for developing several video game consoles in the ’80s and ’90s and for video game franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War, and Yakuza. The company merged with entertainment giant Sammy Corporation in 2004 to form the Sega Sammy Group.