Jan 19 (Reuters) – Playtika Holding Corp (8II.F) on Thursday raised its bid for Finnish games maker Rovio (ROVIO.HE), best known for its Angry Birds franchise, to €683 million ( $737.50 million) sweetened. as consolidation in the industry gathers momentum.
The offer values ​​each Rovio share at €9.05, about 60% higher than the company’s closing price on Jan. 19. It’s also about €40 million above a previously undisclosed bid made by Israeli company Playtika in November.
Rovio of Espoo, Finland, declined to comment. Its shares ended trading 2.5% lower at $5.67 on the Finnish stock exchange ahead of the announcement of the bid, while Playtika was down 2.6% in US trading.
Rovio has had a tumultuous ride since going public in September 2017 at a price of $11.50, and the company’s growth still remains too shaky despite efforts to diversify through acquisitions like Turkish Ruby Games in 2021 Angry Birds franchise dependent.
The games maker has also been impacted by a broader industry slowdown, particularly in the mobile market, after two years of pandemic-driven boom.
According to estimates by gaming analytics firm NewZoo, global mobile gaming revenue fell by more than 6% to $92.2 billion in 2022.
The bid for Rovio is the latest sign of consolidation in the industry, with Microsoft (MSFT.O) in the process of buying Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) for $69 billion and Sony Interactive Entertainment (6758.T) the Video game Halo is buying creator Bungie Inc in a $3.6 billion deal.
Playtika, the maker of casino-style games and apps for poker and solitaire, announced last month that it would lay off 15% of its workforce. The company, whose shares have halved in value over the past year, is also consolidating studios.
($1 = 0.9261 euros)
Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Edited by Maju Samuel and Devika Syamnath
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