Sega buys out 96.3% of video game developer Rovio

Japanese Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. buys out 96.3% of the shares of the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment Oyj (the developer of Angry Birds). About it says in a joint press release from the companies.

“Based on the final result of the offer, the 73,397,174 shares offered for sale under the offer represent approximately 96.3% of all issued and outstanding shares and votes in Rovio <...>. In addition, 100% of the options were presented as part of the offer,” the message says.

The offer to shareholders was made on 5 May. It began on May 8th and expired on August 7th. It is specified that the reward will be paid around August 17 to each shareholder and option holder in Rovio who accepts the offer.

The deal is carried out by the British division of Sega Europe Limited. The statement said the Japanese company intends to purchase all of Rovio’s shares and then “as soon as possible” apply to have the Finnish company’s shares delisted from Nasdaq Helsinki. An additional period, when the remaining shareholders will be able to accept the offer, will run from 11 to 25 August.

In April became knownthat Sega will acquire Rovio for 706 million euros. Each share will be redeemed at 9.25 euros per unit. It was planned to close the transaction in the II quarter of 2023-2024.

The decision to merge the companies was made for Sega’s growth in the gaming market. Together with Rovio, the Japanese company plans to expand its fan base and host Rovio games across multiple platforms, the statement said.

Finnish Rovio is known for the Angry Birds series of games. The first part of the series was the first game to reach a billion downloads. After the success of Angry Birds, the studio bought out smaller companies and developed other games, but this was not crowned with success. Sega’s most famous game is Sonic the Hedgehog.