On Thursday, Playtika Holdig Corp sweetened its offer for famous Finnish game maker Rovio, best known for its franchise “Angry Birds”, to 683 million euros ($737.50 million), as the consolidation paced up in the industry.The offer evaluates 9.05 euros per share of Rovio which is 60% higher than the closing price on January 19th. It is also roughly 40 million euros higher than the previously undisclosed offer made by Israel’s Playtika in November.
However, Espoo, Finland-based Rovio declined any further comment. Its share dropped by 2.5% at $5.67 in trading on the Finnish bourse before the offer was made public. Whereas Playtika fell 2.6% in U.S trading.
Rovio has had a stormy ride since going public in September 2017, listed at a price of $11.50. The company’s growth is still highly dependent on the “Angry Bird” franchise despite their efforts to diversify with acquisitions like Turkish Ruby Games in 2021. The company is also caught up in a wider industry slowdown after two years of the pandemic-driven boom.
According to estimates from gaming analytics firm NewZoo, global mobile gaming revenues tanked more than 6% to $92.2 billion in the year 2022.This offer for Rovio, is the latest sign of consolidation in the gaming industry. Playtika, which is known for making casino-style games and poker and solitaire apps, has just said that they would cut 15% of the workforce. The company’s share value almost halved in value last year, which is also consolidating studios.
