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Sega Corporation has announced that it is to acquire Rovio Entertainment – the developer of the Angry Birds series – in a cool €706 million Euro deal.
The news was declared by Sega parent company Sega Sammy Holdings today, after several days of speculation over the weekend that such a deal was in the works. The deal will see Rovio come under the wing of Sega’s UK arm, Sega Europe Limited – and is expected to close in the second quarter of FY 2024/3.
Sega’s press release describes the deal as a ‘friendly takeover’ – with support from the mobile developer’s board of directors. Sega will acquire “the entirety of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options at EUR 9.25 per share and EUR 1.48 per option, or EUR 706 million in total” as part of the deal.
Of course the purpose of the deal is to help Sega make waves in the mobile market. Their announcement claims the deal will help them “create synergies” in the mobile space. Specifically, the company believes that “utilization of Rovio’s distinctive know-how in live service mobile game operation, to bring Sega’s current and new titles to the global gaming market, where there is large potential and many users can be accessed.”
Haruki Satomi – Sega President – offered up the following statement on the deal: “Historically, as represented by the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series, SEGA has released countless video game titles to various gaming platforms. I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward.”
Rovio’s own CEO – Alexandre Pelletier-Normand – echoed similar sentiments, and compared the Blue Blur to Angry Birds’ own mascot – Red. “Red and Sonic the Hedgehog: two globally recognized and iconic characters made by two remarkably complementary companies, with a worldwide reach that spans mobile, PC/console, and beyond. Combining the strengths of Rovio and SEGA presents an incredibly exciting future.”
As to whether that means we’ll be seeing Sonic the Hedgehog and friends turning up in an Angry Birds game – or vice versa – it’s probably just a matter of time. For now, we’ll have to wait and see. The most recent Sonic game was Sonic Frontiers, which saw its first major DLC release just last month.
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