'Angry Birds' And 'Sonic The Hedgehog' To Become New Bedfellows As SEGA Moves To Purchase Rovio In Massive Deal

Video Games

Apr 18

Seems that the Angry Birds now might be Angry Flickies after this shocking turn of events. This past Friday, it was reported that SEGA was in talks to purchase Rovio, the creator of the super-successful mobile game franchise Angry Birds. The two had previously worked together, with SEGA bringing characters from their classic Sonic the Hedgehog series into the turn-based RPG Angry Birds Epic in 2015. The deal was reported to be worth $1 billion.

On Monday, the deal was confirmed, and SEGA ended up purchasing the mobile game giant for $775 million, a little less than the earlier reported price of $1 billion. The deal was signed following an offer from SEGA’s European branch, and the acquisition is referred to by SEGA as a “Global Expansion of the Consumer Business through Enhancement of Mobile Gaming Capabilities." The takeover was reportedly friendly, with Rovio’s board of directors agreeing to and expressing “support towards the Tender Offer."

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SEGA has stated the following regarding the deal on their website:

“Through the acquisition, the company aims to take-in Rovio's live-operated mobile game development capabilities and expertise in mobile game operation, to accelerate the development of mobile-compatible and multi-platform-supported version of SEGA’s existing game IPs, thereby strengthening and further accelerating global expansion of SEGA’s game portfolio.”

This deal is expected to be finalized in September.

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