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A model of the Angry Birds character “Red” is displayed inside the reception area of Rovio Entertainment Oy’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland, Thursday, February 28, 2019.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Japanese video game giant Sega announced on Monday that it had made a 706 million euro ($776 million) offer for the maker of the Angry Birds puzzle game, Finland’s Rovio Entertainment Oyj.
The deal would be for all of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options, valuing them at 9.25 euros per share, a premium of around 19% to their closing price before the announcement, Sega said. .
Rovio’s board supports the offer, the company added.
Rovio games have been downloaded more than 5 billion times, according to Monday’s release. Meanwhile, its best-known Angry Birds franchise has been licensed into other entertainment and consumer products.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reportsd the deal was expected to be worth around $1 billion.
Rovio shares were up 17.88% at 8:30 a.m. London time.